The Runt of The Gods
by The Shiax Artist
Summary: Loki is back, but there's something different about the trickster god. After hitting him with his car, Tony takes him in and cares for him. But will the trickster be too much to handle or will Tony learn how to cope? NOT Yaoi this time.
1. Runt of the Litter

**Okay! My first Avengers fiction! This is a Loki and Tony fic, no, not yaoi this time. Just friendship and the like.**

**I do not own Avengers or any of the characters, heaven knows the trouble I would cause if I did.  
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Tony gave a large yawn and sat back in his seat, his sunglasses on and the soundproofing of the vehicle activated. Tony, of course, was hungover. He had been drinking heavily the night before and was currently headed to the Avengers tower because Fury had called for a meeting. It was taking him forever though, the streets were crowded with people for a street fair that had overflowed onto streets that weren't blocked off. Tony sighed when he felt the car speed up slightly, then frowned and gripped his seat when there was a loud thump and the car jolted to a stop.

"Son of a-" Tony cursed and opened his door, stepping out and walking quickly to the front. He cursed again at what he saw and yelled at his driver to call 911.

"Don't..."

Tony froze and turned back to the boy he had hit. The boy's short black hair was splayed around his head and matted with either blood or dirt, Stark couldn't tell. He couldn't have been older then fourteen, but he had an air about him that seemed dark and wise. The boy pushed himself up and stumbled to his feet, knocking Tony away when he tried to help him.

"I don't need your help..." The boy growled, keeping his head turned away, his tattered black clothing looked old and beaten. Something seemed overwhelmingly familiar about this boy, but Tony just couldn't place it. The sound of ambulance sirens met their ears and the boy cursed, quickly walking away. Tony grabbed his arm and almost let go when the boy not only blanched in pain, but he felt the wet warmth of blood soaking his hand through the shirt. The boy spun around and yanked his arm free, his green eyes flashing with anger and pain. Tony knew those eyes all too well.

"Loki?" Stark muttered, watching the boy's eyes widen in fear before he turned and ran into an alley. Tony felt anger bubble inside his chest and he gave chase, pulling out a small black communicator that connected him right to Fury's own. Loki dashed through the cluttered alleyway with ease thanks to his smaller form, while Stark had to maneuver and push things aside to get through.

"Tony? Where the hell are you?" Fury asked, sounding impatient.

"I just, literally, ran into Loki, he's back-"

"We know. Where are you?"

"Chasing him towards the docks."

"Keep on him, we'll be there as soon as we can."

The line clicked and Tony shoved the communicator back into his pocket, just in time to jump over a large crate that was in his way. Loki seemed to be loosing steam and even with the distance between them Tony could hear him panting and gasping for air. That distance was becoming shorter and shorter, leaving only a few feet between the two. Tony wasn't prepared when they ran out onto the docks and Loki bolted to the side.

Tony cursed and nearly slipped on the slick ground when he turned to follow after him. Loki was dashing and weaving through the crates and barrels, putting more and more distance between them. This was seriously getting old fast. Tony was grateful when he heard the engines of Fury's jet up ahead. Loki obviously heard it as well.

The shrunken godling skidded to a halt and turned on Stark, grabbing a barrel and chucking it at him. Tony stopped and ducked, just barely dodging the barrel. When he stood back up and looked around, Loki was gone.

"Damn it!" He yelled, turning when he heard Clint's voice behind him.

"Lose something?" He asked, bow in hand and a grin on his face.

"Nope," Tony said, standing up fully. "just misplaced it."

"Heh, he ran into that warehouse." Clint said, motioning to the building closest to them with his bow.

"I knew that." Stark said, fixing his jacket and turning to walk inside.

"You sure it's a good idea to go in without your suit?" Clint asked, following with his bow drawn.

"There's no windows for him to throw me out of, I'll be fine."

"Just stay out of my way."

The boys glanced over to see Natasha step up beside them, gun in hand. They smirked at each other and made their way into the building, finding it dark and smelling of wood, fish, and blood. They walked as quietly as they could, slowly distancing themselves from each other to cover more ground. Clint felt his boot shift against something slick and looked down, finding a very large amount of blood, leading off to the far corner. Clint walked closer to Stark again and spoke ever so quietly.

"He's bleeding, did you attack him earlier?"

"No, but I hit him with my car, it wasn't going that fast though, 10 mph tops."

"This is too much blood for something like that..."

There was a small scuffle in the corner and they all stiffened, moving to surround the source. Tony froze, spotting a pair of tired, glowing green eyes glaring out at him from the black. Natasha and Clint noticed Stark's pause and stopped as well, following his gaze to see Loki's eyes glaring out at them. Both of them took aim and glared back.

"Come on Loki, you're hurt already, don't make this any worse than it already is." Tony said, taking another step closer.

"And then what?" Loki growled. "You have seen me already Stark, I am no threat to you and your people. Leave me alone, I have been tortured enough by my own father..." He said, his anger slipping slightly. Natasha and Clint glanced at each other and at Stark in concern and confusion. Tony was quiet, he had seen that Odin had changed him and Loki had not used any magic so Odin must have sealed that as well...but what about the blood? Clint had already said that being hit by a car going so slow wouldn't have caused that much bleeding. Loki looked hurt, not just physically, but mentally as well...Tony couldn't leave him like that, but he couldn't hand him over to SHIELD either.

"What if I promise not to hand you over to SHIELD?"

This got looks of shock from everyone.

"Tony-?!" Natasha started, earning a glare from Tony that said more than words could. Somehow she understood and lowered her gun, Clint hesitating to follow her example.

"What are you playing at, Stark?" Loki growled half-heartedly.

"Nothing, you're injured and powerless, not to mention your new...hight issues. Come without a fight and I'll make sure you're taken care of and that SHIELD doesn't lock you up again."

"...How can I trust you?"

"You can't, but if you don't I'll have to step back and let these two take over."

This got a small flinch from the godling and they watched in silent amazement as Loki looked away, seemed to think it over for a moment, before looking back up and taking a small step into the light. Clint and Natasha both looked shocked, having not seen Loki's new form, and Clint's jaw dropped slightly.

"Now I get what you meant by hight issues..." He muttered, earning a small glare from Loki. They all stepped back and Loki walked, head down, out of the building with them right behind him. They were met by Fury standing in front of a black jet, surrounded by several armed men. Loki froze in his tracks and only Tony, Clint, and Natasha could see the slight tremble that coursed through his legs and shoulders. In the light they could see a wet, red glisten to his clothing, blood dripping from his sleeves and pant-legs to the ground. Fury glared at them and opened his mouth to say something when Tony stepped forward and placed a hand on Loki's shoulder.

"Thanks for helping me catch up to him guys, have a good night!" Tony chuckled, waving back at the confused group as he led an even more confused Loki away.

"Stark!" Fury barked, making Tony flinch and stop, turning to face him and putting himself between him and Loki. Fury was about to yell at him, probably about how dangerous Loki was and that he must be insane to protect him, but Clint and Natasha both stepped up and whispered something only Fury could hear. There was a tense silence for a good two minutes before Fury spoke again.

"You WILL call me every hour with an update, Stark. If I call you had better pick up or I will storm your house with every man and woman I have. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Tony said, saluting Fury in his own 'poke-fun-at-your-boss' fashion. Fury glared but said nothing as he and his men re-boarded the jet. Clint and Natasha glanced back at Tony, but frowned and followed Fury when Stark waved goodbye at them. When the jet had taken off and was out of sight Tony turned back around, startled when he saw Loki leaning heavily against one of the crates. He was panting and gripping his stomach, wincing every time he took a breath.

"Damn, you really are messed up aren't you?"

"What...was your first clue...Anthony?" Loki grumbled, trying to stand up straight again. Tony placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Sit down, I'll call Pepper to come get us."

There was no argument as Loki sat down gently on the crate and relaxed slightly. It took nearly thirty minutes for Tony to call Pepper and for her to drive all the way to meet them. Pepper tried to ask a million different questions about Loki, like who he was and why he was hurt, but Tony promised to explain later and she quickly drove them home. When they pulled up Tony let Loki out of the car and told Pepper to go home. She started to protest, but Tony promised to send her everything he had on the kid and to keep her up to date on everything.

She was quiet for a long while, watching Loki walk over and stand weakly by the door, obviously waiting for Tony. She sighed and nodded, climbing back into her car and telling him to be careful before shutting the door. Tony watched her drive away, turning on his heel the moment she was out of sight. He walked over and unlocked the door, holding it open for Loki before following. He quickly directed the bleeding boy to the stairs, leading him down into his lab.

"Bringing home strays now sir?" Jarvis asked, startling Loki with its disembodied voice. Tony smiled at the camera before answering.

"What can I say? I've always wanted a pet god."

"I am no pet Anthony." Loki growled, glaring back at the man.

"God?" Jarvis asked, sounding rather skeptical for a machine.

"Yeah, Thor's 'little' brother Loki, I'm sure you remember him tossing me through a window."

"Ah, he seems much smaller than I remember."

Loki was getting very tired of the ongoing jokes between creation and creator. He gave Tony a look that promised death if he kept it up. Tony couldn't help but smirk and tell Loki to sit on his worktable. It was the only plain metal table he had, he always left it clean as a whistle whenever he was done with it. Loki wasn't happy with it, but climbed the best he could onto the bare metal table.

Tony typed a few things into his holographic keyboard, he wanted Jarvis to record everything and take measurements of anything out of the ordinary as he worked. He picked up a pencil out of habit and put the end to his mouth. He glanced back at Loki once or twice to make sure the boy was still sitting there. Loki seemed more out of it than he had been, his head drooped and his arms wrapped around his stomach.

"Alright, shirt off." Tony said, motioning to the half conscious teen with his pencil. Loki glared at him through half-lidded eyes.

"I am not removing my shirt." He growled.

"Okay, but I'm gonna tell Fury you're being uncooperative and then he and his men can take care of your injuries."

Tony glanced over his shoulder just slightly and saw that Loki had paled even more.

"V-Very well..." Loki muttered, grabbing the bottom of his shirt and pulling it up. The fabric was heavy with blood and stuck to his skin in several places. Whatever wounds Loki had, made it difficult for him to lift his arms and he struggled with the shirt slightly. When Loki did pull it up, however, Stark couldn't help but swallow his stomach and stare at the marred flesh beneath. Loki's entire torso, from his collarbone to his waist and his shoulders to his elbows was covered in open wounds. Cuts, to be exact, like those made by a scalpel. They looked like they had been cut in the shapes and designs of Nordic runes. Tony recognized a few, like naudh, symbolizing binding or constraint, bjarken, symbolizing personal growth, and of course the Valknot, the symbol of Odin.

The sound of Loki's wet shirt slapping against the table snapped Tony out of his shock. Loki's wounds were still weeping blood, not as much as they must have when they were first cut, but they were still bleeding nonetheless. Tony took a deep breath to calm himself as he picked up the blood-soaked shirt with the end of his pencil and dropped it in a trash-can next to his desk. He stuck his tongue out and made a 'bleh' noise, dropping the pencil in the trash as well. He then hunted through his desk for the first-aid kit he knew was there.

When he found it he set it down on his desk and pulled out a few things. He grabbed a bottle of peroxide and a rag and stepped closer to Loki, who instantly flinched away.

"Relax Reindeer Games, I need to clean out these cuts before I sew them up."

Loki looked completely on edge, but remained quiet and Stark took that as the sign to continue. It took nearly twenty minutes just to clean the dirt and blood out of every cut and off the rest of his skin. Loki had his eyes screwed shut, not having made a single noise as Tony worked. He only made a small snort when Tony threaded a needle and slipped it into his skin.

Tony worked as quickly and quietly as he could, hearing Loki grunt and hold back sounds of pain every time he pulled on the thread or stuck the needle through skin. Stark was no doctor, but he had picked up quite a few things since becoming Iron Man. When He was finally finished he glanced at the clock and saw he was two minutes over his hour. He practically dove over his desk to grab his phone and call Fury. He picked up after only two rings.

"TONY?! WHAT THE HOLY HELL-?!" Fury yelled into the phone.

"Easy big fella, I was just fixin the kid up. I didn't see the time."

"Well you better pay better attention to the damn time Tony, I was just out the door with Hawkeye and Natasha."

"I get it, I get it. I'll call you back in an hour." Tony said, sighing and ending the call. He turned back to Loki and found the small god doubled over with an arm around his stomach and a hand over his mouth. He looked green. Tony jumped to the rescue, snatching up a second trash can and holding it in front of the godling just in time. Loki emptied his stomach, vomiting for a few moments before dry heaving, having nothing else in his stomach to throw up.

"Damn, you okay? You sick or-?"

"I'm not ill." Loki growled, holding onto the can and dry heaving between speaking. "I'm just...in a lot of pain..."

"...I have pain killers if you want."

"Your...Midgardian medicine will...do little for me."

"I don't know about that, they're pretty strong," Tony said, pulling a bottle from one of his drawers. "One pill makes me loose feeling in my face."

Loki gave him an ill, yet incredulous look, glancing down at the pill bottle and letting out a long sigh. He held his hand out and Tony opened the bottle and placed it in his hands. Loki carefully held the can between his legs as he poured four of the pills into his hand. Tony would have said something about that being enough to kill a man, but he knew better. Loki handed the bottle back and tossed the pills into his mouth. He had to try his hardest not to throw the pills right back up as he swallowed.

"Now, let's get those wrapped up." Tony said, pulling out a ream of bandages and gently starting to wrap Loki's torso. Loki made small noises this time and almost threw up twice. In the end though, Tony was able to bandage Loki's wounds without incident. Tony then turned away and went to work on his computers.

After about five minutes Loki seemed relatively normal. Well, as normal as a drugged up, godling could be. Loki was sitting on the table with his eyes closed, rocking ever so slightly as Tony moved around the room. Tony was running tests on the symbols that adorned Loki's body, the extent of the damage done to said body, and what magic was left. All he could find was small traces of a magic much different than Loki's. Under the circumstances, Tony suspected it was most likely Odin's.

But the damage done to Loki's body. That was different. The cuts had been deep, some of them cutting all the way to the bone. Some were clean and smooth, while others were jagged and poorly done. It was like more than one person had done the cutting. Loki was also dehydrated, malnourished, and obviously sleep deprived. Even with knowing who the little god on his table was, Tony couldn't help but feel something akin to guilt in the pit of his stomach.

Tony jumped out of his skin when Loki fell forward. Tony threw himself in front of Loki, barely catching the boy before he hit the ground. Tony slowly stood back up, Loki out cold in his arms and sighed.

"Note, no more than three pills for the little god." He mumbled to himself. He told Jarvis to save all his data and to call Fury and let him know Loki was asleep and that he was hitting the sack as well. The computer replied with an affirmative as Tony disappeared up the steps with Loki. Tony was surprised by how much someone so small could weigh, finding the little god was heavier than Pepper. It wasn't saying much, seeing how small she was, but a twelve year old that looked like a twig should not weigh more than a grown woman.

Tony finally reached the guest bedroom closest to his own and laid Loki down, pulling the covers up with care. He left the room quietly and shut the door, walking to his own room and flipping the light on. Tony danced backwards like a man on fire, whispering harshly.

"Damn it Natasha! Can't you ever just ring the door bell or at least call first?"

"Not a chance." She said, standing up from the bed, her cat-suit stretching over all the right places. "Fury wanted me to watch the runt while you sleep. Didn't want him gutting you in your sleep apparently."

"Aw," Tony said, clasping his hands together and holding them to the side of his face. "He really does care."

Natasha couldn't help but smile and roll her eyes, watching Tony as he walked past.

"Well, you're probably going to have a really boring night, Reindeer Games is drugged up hard core."

"How 'hard core'?"

"Four face-numbing pills on an empty, dehydrated stomach."

Natasha made a face that made Tony frown.

"What?"

"Nothing." She sighed, leaving the room in exchange for the hallway. Tony scratched his head and shrugged. He had Jarvis set an alarm on his clock for the moment Loki was awake before stripping down to only his pants and diving into bed. It was going to be a very long day tomorrow.

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**Well! I hope you enjoyed chapter one and will leave a review, comments, or questions for me so I know how to improve. ^^ Thanks!**


	2. Listen and Learn

***Sees that I have 9 followers, 6 favorites, and 151 views within the first few hours.* Holy shi-! *heart attack***  
**Thank you guys so much! w**

To SnapesGirl59: Teenage angst never wears off! :P And I know right?! I read all the Norse stories and they're just full of punishment and torture.  
Also! Don't expect many updates too soon ^^' I only got this done cuz I had free time.

**I'm sorry for how short this one is, I'll be sure to make the next one longer.**

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Tony was surprised when he woke up before Loki did, seeing as it was almost ten in the morning. Tony dragged himself out of bed and hunted down a clean shirt. The only thing he could find was a grey wife-beater, but it would have to do. He ran a hand through his hair and stepped out into the hall, finding Clint standing there instead of Natasha.

"Morning lazy ass." Clint said with a grin, Tony smirked right back and clapped him on the shoulder as he passed.

"Morning bird brain."

Tony made his way to the room Loki was in and opened the door ever so slightly. He peered inside and saw that Loki was wrapped up in the blankets like a burrito, he was turned on his side, drooling ever so slightly onto his pillow. There was something strangely innocent about it that made Tony stifle a laugh. He closed the door and turned back towards Clint.

"I'm awake now, you can leave or share a drink with me, your choice."

"It's too early to be drinking Tony, I think I'll take option one."

"Suit yourself." Tony said with a shrug, heading for his bar. He poured himself a large double shot of whisky and tossed it back, feeling it burn the whole way down. He tossed back two more before moving to the couch and turning on the television. He watched the news for about an hour before he got bored, there was literally nothing going on in the world. He changed the channel to Animal Planet and changed it again just as fast.

"Uhg! Great, now I have the image of buffalo humping burned into my memory."

"That sounds like quite the problem."

Tony jumped up to face the door, finding mini-Loki standing there, still wrapped in the mound of blankets so only his face and toes peeked out.

"Jarvis, I thought I said to set an alarm for when Reindeer Games here woke up."

"You did," Replied the AI. "But it was for your bedroom clock, it has been going off for the last ten minutes."

While Loki yawned Tony glared at the camera in the corner. Tony sat back down as Loki moved into the room, crawling up into the armchair to the left of Tony and bundling up. Loki still seemed half asleep, glancing through half-lidded eyes at the TV. Tony had had the luck to change it to the history channel, it was an Asian Culture marathon.

The two sat in utter silence for a long while, that was until Tony's phone started to ring, blaring out ACDC at full volume. Both of them jumped out of their skins and looked around for the source of the noise. Tony quickly realized his phone was in his pocket and pulled it out.

"Hello?"

"The day has started Stark, I'll be expecting your hourly calls or else."

"Good morning to you too Fury," Tony grumbled. "I get it, I'll call you in an hour...or Jarvis will. Don't know yet."

"Good. And Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"Make sure he eats something before Thor gets there."

"Fuck-" Tony muttered as the line went dead, he glanced over to the god to see Loki watching him like a cat. He knew something was wrong. Tony rolled his shoulders and shoved the phone into his pocket, pushing himself to his feet.

"It seems your brother is headed over-"

"What?!"

The speed at which Loki moved was terrifying. He was free from the blankets and heading for the door like he was on fire. Tony was barely fast enough to grab him around the middle and hold the squirming boy in place.

"Whoa whoa whoa! What's your problem-?!"

"I'm not going back!" Loki screamed, his arms pinned but his legs kicking at the air like an enraged animal. "I'll die before I go back to that living hell!"

"Easy!" Tony yelled, struggling to keep hold of the god. "Just calm down! He's not taking you anywhere!"

Loki seemed to calm ever so slightly, his breathing was still erratic and his eyes were wild as he looked back at Tony. Tony slowly lowered him back to the ground and spoke as sternly as he could.

"Thor isn't going to take you anywhere. He'll have to go through me if he thinks he's going to take you back to Asgard."

"What makes you think you could stop him?" Loki asked, sounding like a scared child.

"Because I'm smarter and faster than he is. I told you, I won't let him take you."

Tony slowly removed his arms from Loki and stepped back, motioning to the counter.

"Why don't we get you something to eat and some new clothes before he gets here?"

Loki was quiet, nodding after a moment of silence. Tony could sense the nervous fear that filled the small god as he followed him to the kitchen area. Any wrong move and Loki would bolt like a rabbit from a starved dog. Tony shut off the TV, preferring the quiet in this tense situation. Tony pulled over a stool for Loki to sit on and dug through the kitchen in search of something Loki's stomach could handle. The best he could find was a bowl of leftover soup in the fridge. He pulled it and the milk out of the fridge and set them on the counter.

He calmly poured a glass of milk for himself and Loki, pushing Loki's glass over to him and watching him sip at it cautiously. He then put away the milk and poured a good portion of the chicken and dumpling stew into a bowl. He stuck it in the microwave for a few seconds before pulling it out, stirring it and sliding it over to Loki. the look on Loki's face was the perfect mix of ravenous hunger and distrust.

Eventually Loki started to eat, slowly at first before starting to wolf it down. It was obvious he hadn't eaten anything substantial, if at all, in a long time. Tony grabbed an apple from the counter and ate quietly, trying to watch Loki without staring at him. Loki ate nearly all of the soup, but couldn't even touch the dumplings that were mixed in. He pushed the bowl away and finished the rest of his milk.

"You done?" Tony asked, earning a small nod. "Good, let's see if we can find something that will fit you until we can get some real clothes for you."

Loki slid off the stool and once again followed Tony, this time into the hall and to Tony's room. Loki seemed to halt in the doorway, watching Tony dig through his closet. Eventually he found a pair of grey jeans that were actually most likely Pepper's, not that Loki need to know that, and a small black t-shirt. The pants fit well enough to not need a belt, but the shirt was still a little too big on Loki's small frame.

"Well, it will have to do for now." Tony said, leading Loki back towards the bar. The building shook as thunder sounded from the roof. Tony stopped and looked back at Loki, who looked completely on edge, glancing around like Thor was going to bash through a wall at any moment.

"Come on." Tony said, holding the door open. Loki hesitated at first, but then quickly moved inside, not wanting to be caught in such a small space. Loki moved over beside the armchair he had sat in earlier and Tony moved back to the bar, pouring himself a quick drink. When the door opened and the massive blond thunderer stepped inside, both Tony and Loki froze. Thor spotted Loki and a look of relief crossed his face, he started to walk towards him.

"Don't come near me!" Loki shrieked, moving so the chair was between him and Thor.

"But brother-"

"I am not your damned brother!" Loki yelled, cutting Thor off. Thor tried to take another step and before they knew what had happened, Tony was in front of Thor, a hand on his chest to warn him from taking another step. Thor looked confused and hurt, but relaxed his shoulders and took a step back.

"Br-Loki, I simply wish to know that you are well."

"Well enough without you here." Loki growled, staying behind the chair.

"Bro-"

"Don't!" Loki snarled again. "I will not go with you, Thor, leave me be."

"Please, I mean you no harm."

"Leave! I need no pity from you."

Thor looked like a puppy that had been kicked, smacked, and tossed off the back of a truck. The thunder god lowered his head in shame and turned, walking away. He paused briefly in the door to look back at Tony.

"Please take care of my brother Man of Iron." He whispered, leaving shortly after. Tony rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands and ran his fingers through his hair, turning back to the bar for another drink.

"That went well." He said, cheerfully sarcastic. Loki gave him a sharp glare and grabbed one of the blankets from the chair, wrapping it around himself and sitting down against the side of the chair. Tony couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Why do you keep saying that?"

Loki leaned over so he could peek around the chair, strands of his black hair hanging in his face.

"Saying what?"

"That you're not his brother."

Loki gave a snort and moved back behind the chair.

"Because I'm not. He needs to learn that eventually."

"I thought you two had the same dad."

"I was stolen."

Tony froze, the bottle of whisky in his hands stopped mid-pour.

"Stolen?"

"Yes, stolen." Loki said bitterly, his angry tone echoing through the large room. "I am the son of the jotun Laufey."

"Um..."

"Jotun means ice giant, Anthony."

"I knew that...I thought the jotun were the enemies of Asgard."

"They are, Odin thought he could use me to unite his kingdom with Laufey's..."

"Wait, Laufey's? Laufey is king of the ice giants and Odin stole you from him?"

"Was, but yes."

"Son of a-! Wait, was?"

"I killed him."

"Whoa whoa! Now I'm completely turned around. You killed Laufey, king of the ice giants and your real father?"

"Yes."

"How?! Why?!"

"I..." Loki fell silent this time, after a few minutes Tony walked around the bar and closer to Loki so he could peer around the chair at him. Loki had his knees pulled up to his chest and the blanket pulled up over his head to hide his face.

"I'm not sure anymore." Loki mumbled, he sounded like he was on the verge of crying. Oh god, that was something Tony did NOT want to be the witness of. Tony quickly retrieved his drink and sat down on the floor, his back against the front of the chair.

"Why don't we start from the beginning?" Tony suggested, taking a small sip from his drink before surging on.

"You really want to sit here and listen to my story?" Loki asked, a tinge of surprise in his tone.

"We've got nothing better to do, why don't we start with how you found out about Laufey being your dad."

"I...Alright..."

"Good, Jarvis, make sure Fury gets his hourly calls, just tell him Loki and I are talking and if he hacks my computers I'll give the SHIELD base a virus."

"Yes sir."

"Okay, go ahead Loki."

Tony and Loki sat for nearly four hours, adjacent to each other as Loki told his tale. Tony took it with a grain of salt of course, Loki being the god of lies and all, but the little god sounded strangely sincere. He told all about his brother leading them into Jotunheim and how he had been grabbed by one of the giants. He told of how Odin had saved them and banished Thor to Midgard. Of how he had confronted Odin about his heritage and what Odin had said. He told everything about luring Laufey to Asgard and killing him, then trying to destroy Jotunheim. He told of how Thor had stopped him and destroyed the Bifrost and how he had fallen into the abyss.

Loki's story ended with him being captured by the Chitauri and his coming to Midgard. When Loki's story was done, Tony stood, set his glass in the sink and stood behind the bar with his head in his hands. Loki stayed where he was, remaining quiet and listening to Tony move.

"Jarvis."

"Yes sir?"

"Call Pepper and ask her to come over, I'm going to go shower..." Tony said, walking to the door and adding a barely audible, "Watch the runt and keep me informed with what he does."

"Yes sir." The AI replied, the door shutting behind Tony and leaving Loki alone in the silence.

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Well! There's chapter two! Now Tony knows Loki's side of the story, how will this affect his thinking and what will happen when Pepper gets there?

Leave a review, comments, or questions to help me improve! Thanks! ^^


	3. Incident at the Mall

**Holy bull balls! Three chapters in less than twelve hours! Impossible! What the hell am I even doing up this late!? Oh...I'm a review whore...that's why. Lol. What can I say? Every time I get praise for something it makes me do the happy dance and I can't help but want to write more. ^^'**

**Anyway~ there's some fun stuff in this chapter, so please, enjoy and I'll see you all again in chapter four!**

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Pepper showed up moments after Tony got out of the shower, Jarvis had let her in and she found her way to the bar. She found the room quiet and seemingly empty so she sat down on the couch. She let out a sigh and sat back against the black leather.

"Good afternoon Ms. Potts."

Pepper jumped back to her feet and spun around, spotting a blanketed mound sitting behind the armchair.

"G-Good afternoon," She said, stepping a bit closer to the melancholy voice. "Are you the boy Tony brought home yesterday?"

"I am, though I am not a 'boy', I am far older than you and Anthony combined."

"Who are you?" She asked, showing bravery in the way she knelt down in front of him and lifted the blanket so she could see his eyes.

"His name is Loki." Tony said as he walked in, wearing a pair of black slacks and drying his hair with a towel. "He's Thor's adopted brother and the one who threw me out the window when the Chitauri attacked."

This seemed to make Pepper stand and back up like no tomorrow, staring down at Loki with wide eyes. Her look changed from one of surprise to one of confusion, she gave Tony an incredulous look and pointed down at Loki.

"He's the one who tossed you out the window? You told me it was a tall, dark, and slender man with the strength of a god."

"He was bigger last time!" Tony said, throwing his arms up like a child. Pepper looked back down when a small chuckle escaped the godling. Loki stood, keeping the blanket around him, but dropping it off his head so he could see Tony.

"You sound like a woman describing a giant rat that turns out to be a simple mouse."

"I don't know, you still look like a rat to me." Tony said, pouting out his lower lip and dropping his towel to his shoulders.

"I am still strong enough to toss you out the window, so I guess that's not far from the truth." Loki hissed back, sounding more playful than hostile. Pepper watched Loki move to sit at the counter, closer to Tony and followed tentatively after him.

"You can relax Ms. Potts, I mean no harm." Loki said over his shoulder, accepting a glass of milk from Tony.

"...Only if you call me Pepper." She countered, earning a smile and small nod from the boy.

"Have it your way."

"Could you call me Tony then?" Stark asked, leaning his elbows on the counter.

"No." Loki said decidedly, closing his eyes and sipping his drink.

"Why not? Anthony is...personal, call me Stark, Mr. Stark, Iron Man, Man of Iron, take your pick. Just please stop calling me Anthony."

"Mmm, no, I rather like the name Anthony." Loki said, an evil smile tugging at his lips. "I don't quite feel like changing it."

Tony groaned and seemed to melt into the counter, laying his chin against the marble and stretching his arms across it. Pepper shook her head slightly and stood at the end of the counter so she could see them both.

"So what did you need me for Tony?" She asked, watching Tony pop back up and settle into his usual posture.

"I wanted to ask you to go shopping with us."

"What?" Pepper and Loki asked in unison.

"Shopping," Tony said plainly. "I have the feeling Reindeer Games is gonna be here a while and he's gonna need clothes that don't consist of your pants and one of my small shirts."

Loki choked on his drink and glared at Tony with glowing green eyes. Tony gave him a quick toothy grin and faced Pepper, talking quickly to cover his tracks.

"Anyway, I know better then to trust myself to shop alone, I was hoping that you would come with and keep me on track."

"And away from the woman's section." Loki growled through his teeth. Pepper put her hand to her chin and thought for a moment, eventually nodding but wagging a finger at the boys.

"Fine, I'll come with, if only to keep you in line, but no side trips and we buy whatever Loki wants unless I say no. Got it?"

The boys nodded and she gave a curt nod to the boy.

"You however need a shower before we go anywhere."

"I have no other clothes-"

"I can take care of that." She said, ordering Tony to show him how to use the shower and shooing them away. Tony and Loki disappeared into the other room and Tony returned a few minutes later, fully dressed this time. Pepper told Tony to stay put and disappeared as well. Loki took nearly thirty minutes to clean himself up before coming out in a massive fluffy grey robe Tony had left for him. Pepper reappeared right after with a pile of clothing in her hands.

She handed loki a pair of sleek blue jeans and turned around while he put them on. She turned back when he was done and bent down to roll the ends up. Loki felt strange letting the woman work around him like he was a child, but something about her made him quiet. She pulled a small white wife-beater over his head and helped him slip his arms into a black hoodie, before zipping up the front.

Once again everything was small enough that it stayed on him, but large enough to not fit quite right. She then handed him a pair of black socks and grey and blue sneakers that were just too big for him. She gave his hair a quick comb-through with her fingers, shaking it out so it looked a bit less odd. She looked him over and sighed.

"Well, it's not perfect, but it will have to do until later."

"Hey Pep," Tony whispered in her ear as Loki shifted the clothing around himself to better fit. "Where'd you get the clothes?"

"They're mine, I always keep spare clothing in my trunk. You said he was wearing my pants so I figured he must be able to fit into most of my stuff." She whispered back before grabbing the boys' arms and pushing them towards the door. She instantly let go when Loki barked out a noise of pain.

"Sorry!" She squeaked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine...just a few bruises." Loki said through gritted teeth, he rushed past her and Tony shook his head when Pepper tried to ask him about it. Tony yelled at Jarvis to direct all calls to his cell and to keep calling Fury with hourly updates. When the AI confirmed the three left the house and climbed into Pepper's silver Audi. Tony of course complained about not being able to take one of his own cars. Pepper quickly shut him down in saying that she could tell he had been drinking by his breath and that she would hit him if he even tried to touch the wheel.

This of course started a strange game between the two adults. Tony kept trying to snake a hand over to tap the steering wheel and Pepper would smack his hand and yell at him while still trying to drive. Eventually Tony smacked the wheel and the horn blared, making Pepper yelp and smack Tony across the back of the head. Loki of course found this hilarious and tried not to laugh the best he lost that battle when Tony tried one more time and Pepper actually punched him in the nose.

Loki laughed like a maniac as Tony nursed his nose. Both Tony and Loki settled down as they pulled up to their first stop, a great little mall where one could literally find everything. They climbed out and Loki frowned, the crowds of people and concussion of noise was disorienting. Pepper and Tony took their place at his sides and started to walk, moving expertly through the crowds into the massive building. When they actually stepped inside the building the crowds seemed to disperse.

They were still there, but closer to the shops and walls, gathered into their own little clichés. The middle of the mall was actually very empty, leaving plenty of room to move around. Loki followed the pair further into the building, glancing around at the shops and the many Midgardian wonders inside. Pepper took them into a small store that was obviously directed more towards Loki's new age group. Loki wasn't ecstatic, but he was the master of finding ways to cope. She waved him on and he walked through the store, looking around for things he liked and would fit him. He wandered for about ten minutes before he came back, giving them both an incredulous look. This was not the store for him. No one in the nine worlds could force him to wear this crap. Tony chuckled and led them to the next store.

This one was much better. It was a men's fashion boutique. While not quite Tony's speed, he knew it was Loki's. Loki was able to find several sets of clothing that were much more his speed. They would all have to be tailored to fit him, but Tony didn't hesitate to spend the money to have that done. At first the tailor seemed confused by the preteen being his customer, but started to fit the clothing when Tony motioned for him to do so. In the end Loki walked out in a sleek green turtleneck, a pair of black slacks, a black vest with gold trim and buttons, and a pair of black leather boots. Tony ordered several other outfits and variations for Loki, all to be tailored to his size and sent to Stark Tower. He then paid and followed the little god out.

"For a twelve year old, you sure have a lot of swagger." Tony said, eyeing the way Loki held himself now that he was dressed in something more his own.

"Of course Anthony, I'm an expert after all."

Tony and Loki shared a quick chuckle and noticed Pepper was coming out of a store with a bag in her hands.

"What's that?" Tony asked, blinking when Pepper smiled and held the bag out to Loki. Loki took it with a look of confusion and glanced inside. He pulled out a long black scarf with intricate green and gold designs knitted into its being. Somehow Pepper had guessed the one thing that brought a soft smile to the trickster's face. His eyes shimmering as he pulled it out and wrapped it around his neck, holding it up to breath its clean scent before looking up at Pepper and bowing at the hip.

"Thank you Ms. Po...Pepper."

She smiled and nodded, watching Loki place the now empty bag inside the one that held Pepper's lent clothing. Tony leaned over and whispered as quietly as he could into her ear.

"How did you-?"

"I noticed how much he liked being wrapped up in the blankets at the tower. It only makes sense that he would need something like that to make him feel at ease."

Tony blanched at how much sense that made. Loki's bright green eyes brought Tony out of his thoughts. The little god was looking back at him with the most cat-like stare.

"What?" Tony asked, becoming the definition of confused when Loki turned away and walked towards the exit. The bang that echoed through the mall triggered something in Tony. He placed a hand against Pepper's back and moved her down next to him, snatching the back of Loki's collar and pulling him back against his chest in the same motion. Ratatatatatatat. Gunfire. Tony knew that sound like his own heartbeat. It was so close it was deafening.

Tony moved with practiced speed, moving into the crook of one of the stores with Pepper and Loki against him. People were screaming and guns were blazing from everywhere. Tony couldn't think like this, his heartbeat was pounding in his ears and Pepper's screams were the loudest. He pushed them against the wall and tried to spot the gunners, instantly spotting three men on the second floor with machine guns.

He cursed aloud and dug in his pocket for his phone, Fury could get here faster then his suit could, especially if he sent Thor. Tony heard the ringing stop, but couldn't hear Fury over the gun shots.

"Fury?! Can you hear me?!" He called, cursing when the bullets grazed the wall he was hiding behind. "Look! Just tell Thor to get his ass down here and-!"

Tony cried out and dropped his phone when a bullet slashed his leg. He pulled his leg in and cursed when he saw his phone popped open against the ground. The cut the bullet had left was small, it had startled him more than actually hurt him. He gave a quick glance to the others and saw only Pepper huddled against the wall with her eyes screwed tight.

"Loki?!" Tony yelled, looking around frantically for the boy. He spotted him running across the mall, right towards the gunners.

"LOKI!" Tony screamed, going to chase after him, but being forced back when the bullets flew his way. He was only able to watch as Loki neared the wall, hitting it at top speed and climbing it like a squirrel up a tree. Tony felt his jaw hit his chest as Loki flipped over the railing and smashed the first gunner in the face with his boot.

The other two noticed him and took aim. Loki was surprisingly nimble, dodging behind a sign. He grabbed the top of the metal sign and used it as leverage to rocket himself into the air and down towards the next man. Loki's boot came down on his head with horrific force, twisting his head back in a sickening way. One gunner left. The last gunner took aim, but held his fire, his eyes locked with the boy's. When Loki moved the man started to shoot.

Loki once again seemed a blur of black and green, the gold of his scarf flashing when the light hit it just right. Loki jumped and landed on the railing, using it to leap over the man's head and land behind him. The man went to turn, firing all the way, but stopped when Loki's tiny fist met with his back. Kidney punch. Tony flinched, he knew firsthand how much that hurt. The man let out a cry of pain like a dying animal and dropped his gun, only falling to the floor when Loki swept his feet out from under him.

Suddenly everything was quiet, the gunfire was gone and the screaming had died down. Everything was still for a few seconds, people emerging from their hideaways to see the dark little boy that had saved them. Loki looked pissed, making it a choice to step on the man's chest instead of over it. Loki moved to the railing and jumped over it, landing back on the first floor with a grunt. Pepper blinked away her shock and jumped to her feet, running over with Tony right on her heels.

She practically tackled Loki in a tight hold, it wasn't really hug, but more like a motherly grab. She knelt down and checked him all over, looking for wounds or blood that was his.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt? That was dangerous! What were you thinking? You could have been shot!" She yelled all at once, earning a frown from the godling. He slipped his arms from her grasp and gave her a calm look.

"I'm fine, I dealt with them, isn't that what you would want?"

"Yes, but not by putting yourself in danger!"

"We were all in danger," Loki said, cutting her off. "I merely used my strength to my advantage. I may be small, but I am still a warrior and a god."

Loki dusted himself off and fixed his scarf, giving Tony a look that said 'I want to go home, now.' Tony took the hint and stood Pepper up, moving them both to the door as fast as he could. It was just his luck to step out just as Thor landed, locking eyes with him and opening his mouth.

"You're late Thor." Loki said, silencing Thor and walking past him like he didn't exist. "I took care of it."

"You...took care of it?" Thor muttered, watching Loki climb into the back of Pepper's car and refuse to look him in the eye.

"Yes, I did, can we go now Anthony?" Loki growled, hurrying Pepper and Tony into the car. Tony gave Thor an 'I'll explain later' look and closed his door. Pepper quickly started up the car and drove off, leaving Thor standing there confused. The drive back to the house was quiet, so much so that everyone was afraid to breathe. The moment they reached the house Loki was out of the car and in the front door. Tony quickly went after him, saying goodnight to Pepper first before shutting the door.

Tony caught up to Loki and grabbed ahold of his shoulders spinning him around to face him. Tony was surprised when Loki froze, his shoulders locking up as he looked up at Tony. His eyes were glazed over with tears and a slight tremble had settled into his body. His eyes were bright, lacking that dark wisdom that his eyes usually held. Tony's grip loosened and he stepped back, his angry words dying in his lungs, coming out as a slow sigh.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked finally, not sure what else to ask. He was surprised when Loki dove into his stomach and started to cry. He sobbed loud, painful sobs that wracked his thin body. Tony was at a loss, he stared down at Loki in confusion and horror, expecting the trickster to start laughing or to stab him in the back. Nothing happened, Loki just sobbed for a good twelve minutes, clinging to Tony's waist and shivering. Eventually Loki stopped, heaving deep, shaky breaths and slowly pulling away. His eyes were closed as he stepped back, putting a hand to the side of his head.

"You okay now?" Tony asked in a low tone, unsure if it was safe to talk. Loki opened his eyes and glared at Tony like he had grown a second head.

"I'm fine Anthony, I said so before."

Tony's jaw tightened, the dark glow in Loki's eyes was back, that look of hurt quickly disappearing back under the surface. Loki turned and walked towards his room, announcing that he was done for the day and was going to bed. Tony only nodded in response, unable to find his voice as he moved from the hall to the bar. He needed a heavy drink after that, especially when Jarvis told him that Fury had called and was headed over right away.

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Aw~ look, Pepper and Loki are being all friendly~ but uh-oh, Loki's acting funny, Fury's headed over, and I'm exhausted as hell. No more updates tonight! As always, leave a review, comments, or questions to help me improve. See ya next chapter!


	4. Hollow Bones

**OKAY! So! um..I'm writing this after three shots of Absinthe, so I'm kinda smashed. Mum had a really bad day and needed a drinking partner. I'll probably go back and fix whatever mistakes there are later. If you see anything wrong or out of place PLEASE let me know via whatever so I can fix it. The back of my skull is numb so I'm just gonna finish writing this then go to bed. Also, thank god for auto correct, or else this would be littered with spelling errors.**  
**And thank you everybody for the reviews and the over 1000 views, I'm seriously feeling the love right now.**  
**This also seems kinda short...is it too short?**

***Edit* Well! I can't believe I actually wrote this last night. *No recollection of it at all* But I'm glad I did. I went back and fixed a bunch of my errors and such, please let me know if you guys see any more.  
**

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Tony was sitting at the counter playing with his half-empty glass, twirling it on its edge like a drunk ballerina. He set his chin in his free hand and watched the gold liquid swirl inside the glass. His leg stung, it wasn't bleeding, but he had poured whiskey on it so it currently felt like it was trying to eat through his leg. He heard the door behind him open and quickly tossed back his drink.

"I saw what he did." Fury said, coming over and taking a seat next to Tony. "He killed two of those men."

"Fuck." Tony muttered, refilling his glass.

"But," Fury said taking the glass from him and holding it in his own dark hands. "There were no other casualties. He saved dozens of people, women and children included."

"What are you trying to say?" Tony asked, trying to take his drink back and frowning when Fury held it just out of his reach.

"I'm trying to say that he is dangerous, but for some reason he decided to save you and Ms. Potts."

"He didn't 'decide' to save us, he said we were all in danger and he-"

"Used his strength to his advantage. I know, but don't you think with his speed he could have stayed safe? He was never in any danger, even when they were five feet away and firing right at him, he was safe."

Tony stopped and stared Fury in the eye, suddenly downright confused. He was starting to wish he hadn't drank so much.

"Then...Then why did he attack them? Just because he could or-?"

"Watch this." Fury said, pulling a small thumb drive out of his pocket and handing it over before standing back up. "Watch it, then tell me what you see."

Tony watched Fury leave, spotting a small glimpse of Natasha in the hallway as the door closed. He sighed and grabbed his abandoned drink, tossing it back and getting up. He walked over to the TV and turned it on, plugging the flash drive into the massive television. He stepped back and told Jarvis to play whatever was on the disk. There was a small beep and the TV came to life. It was loud at first, but Jarvis quickly fixed that, lowering the sound so the gunshots were barely audible.

Tony watched the scene at the mall play before him. He watched himself duck into the store outlet with Loki and Pepper and dig for his phone. He watched himself scream into the phone and cry out when the bullet grazed his leg, making him drop the cell. Tony blinked when he watched Loki tense and dash out of the store at full speed.

He blinked when the camera angle changed so he could see their front, letting him see the side of Loki's face. The part replayed, the moment the bullet grazed him and he yelped, Loki seemed to change. He went from the epitome of calm and collected to downright feral. His shoulders stiffened, his chest puffed, his hair stood on end, and he snarled. He looked like a caged wolf, ready to tear its captor's throat out. Loki was snarling even as he ran, his eyes locked on his first target.

Tony almost jumped when the scene replayed once again, changing to a camera where you could fully see Loki's face. His snarl was terrifying, he was nothing like the small, injured child he looked like. What caught Tony's eye the most though was how Loki reacted to him being shot. Loki seemed so relaxed and content to just sit there before, changing instantly the moment Tony cried out.

Tony stared at the screen long after it had stopped playing and gone dark. His mind was too drunk and too tired to figure this out. Okay Tony, focus. Loki obviously didn't give shit about the gunners or the people they hit. That was...until Tony was hit. Then he freaked out and killed two of them...

Nope. Too drunk. Bed time.

Tony unplugged the thumb drive and tossed it into his pocket. He went to his room, stopping in front of Loki's room very briefly before moving on. He didn't bother to change and simply crashed down into his bed, yanking the covers up the best he could before passing out.

Tony woke up a few hours later to voices. He grumbled and pulled his pillow over his head, cursing when he could still hear them. He tossed the pillow away and rolled off the bed. He fixed his clothes, changing his pants to hide his cut, and shook out his hair before leaving his room. He picked up his pace when he heard Loki yelling at someone. He threw open the door to see Steve trying to keep hold of Loki under his arm, the little god growling and yelling at the man to release him.

"Hey?! What the hell are you doing?" Tony yelled, noticing Banner and Clint standing to the side looking guilty.

"We came-ouch-over to check on you-oof!" Steve said, being elbowed in the gut and kicked in the shin multiple times.

"We found Loki here, with a dead bird, trying to use its bones to sew up his arm." Clint finished so Steve wouldn't have to. Tony took a moment to look around the room and take in a few details. The kitchen floor was covered with blood and feathers from a large dead crow, one of its wings was torn apart to get to one of the long bones. Said bone was currently in Loki's fist, a long piece of black thread threaded through a hole made by unknown means in the larger end of the bone. Loki's left sleeve was rolled up only slight, having fallen down to his elbow during his struggle again Steve. The entire shoulder was turned a dark brown where blood had seeped into the fabric.

Tony curse and ordered Steve to drop Loki, walking over quickly to grab Loki's arm and pull the bloodied sleeve up. Loki held surprisingly still as Tony looked him over. The bandages that Tony had wrapped around his arm were gone, most likely discarded somewhere. A few of the larger stitches had snapped and the cuts had reopened, weeping blood down Loki's arm. Tony sighed and released Loki's arm to stand at his full hight, holding his hand out for the bone-needle and thread.

"Hand it over." Tony said, earning the slightest glare from Loki before he placed it in his hand. Tony held it up and looked it over, it was surprisingly well done for a handmade bone needle.

"What happened?" Tony asked, frowning when Loki crossed his arms.

"Nothing, I popped a few stitches yesterday and didn't notice until it started to soak through my shirt."

"Why didn't you use a real needle or at least wake me up so I could help?"

"I don't need your help with every little thing Anthony...and I could not find one."

Tony made an irritated noise and ordered Loki to sit down at the counter. The others stared as Loki silently did as he was told. Tony shooed Clint and Banner out of his way as he moved towards the kitchen, stepping over the mess of bird on his floor. He left the bone needle on the counter and opened one of the higher-up cupboards to pull out a first-aid kit. Grabbing a pill bottle as well. He then returned to Loki's side, dropping three of the blue pills in his hand and handing them to him.

He waited for Loki to swallow the pills before popping the kit open and grabbing the needle and thread. He started to work on Loki's arm, feeling too uncomfortable not to talk.

"So boys," Tony said, addressing the other three men still standing quietly in the room. "What brings you here at such an ungodly hour?"

"Fury wants Loki to stay at Stark Tower from now on." Steve said quietly.

"I already said no-"

"You don't have a choice." Clint interrupted, Banner quickly taking over.

"Look, no matter how small he is, he's obviously still a danger and Fury isn't willing to let things get out of control again." Banner said, standing so he was in Tony's line of sight. "Fury said you can stay there with him, but he can't leave him here any longer."

Tony and Loki locked eyes and Tony could see the anger in Loki's eyes rising like the tide. Tony finished the stitches and quickly re-bandaged the area before pulling Loki's sleeve back down, telling him to go change into the t-shirt he had worn before. Loki slid off the stool and disappeared from the room.

"You do realize how pissed he's going to be when he finds out Thor is there?" Tony asked, glancing back at Banner, who nodded and crossed him arms.

"At least he seems to listen to you." Clint said, shutting up when Tony glared at him.

"Stark," Steve said, drawing his attention away from Clint. "This is what's best for him. You know that."

"Yeah, I know, doesn't make it any better or any easier."

When Loki came back in, dressed in his slacks and the t-shirt, he had his shoes on and his scarf around his neck. Loki shoved his hands into his pockets and put on a look of complete indifference.

For the next twenty minutes Loki was completely silent, refusing to even acknowledge anyone but Tony. Tony grabbed his coat, the bottle of blue pills, his wallet, a new cell phone and a set of car keys. Tony also made sure to tell Jarvis to call someone to come clean up the dead bird, telling him to blame it on a nonexistent cat. The others took Clint's car, which they had arrived in, while Loki and Tony took one of Tony's many high-end sports cars. As they drove, Tony watched Loki start to nod off in the corners of his vision.

When he pulled up in front of Stark Tower, Loki was barely conscious. Loki started fumbling with his seat belt like his fingers were made out of wet spaghetti. Tony held back his laughter and got out of the car, walking around and opening Loki's door. He reached in and undid his seatbelt before standing back to see if Loki could stand. He gave a small laugh when Loki shuffled his feet to the sidewalk and tried to push himself to his feet.

Tony caught the small god and picked him up, sitting him against his hip without a single word said between them. He had almost forgotten how heavy Loki was, quickly shifting him to better sit against him so he wouldn't fall. Loki gave up and wrapped his arms around Tony's neck, closing his eyes and resting his head in the crook of his neck. Tony didn't wait for Cap and the others before he went inside, heading for the elevator. The music was Twisted Nerve, the creepy whistling completely out of place.

The moment the door opened Tony knew he was going to have to walk on eggshells. Thor was leaning against the window wall, dressed in much more mundane clothing, while Fury and Natasha stood talking near the table in the middle of the room. Fury and Natasha went quiet and Thor stood up, taking a step from the wall. Tony stopped them with a small motion with his hand, quieting them as well, Loki still asleep against him. Tony walked into the room and moved to one of the chairs, shifting Loki enough so he could sit down.

"Is he...asleep?" Natasha asked, looking a bit confused.

"I would assume so," Tony said, taking one of Loki's arms and pulling it off his neck to wiggle it in the air like a dead snake. "I don't think I'd get away with this if he was awake."

Loki made a mumbling sound and Tony quickly put the arm back, watching Loki actually snuggle against the crook of his neck. Tony spotted Thor standing where he had been, with the most melancholy expression, looking over his little brother with a broken heart.

"Hey Pointbreak," Tony said quietly, motioning the god closer. "Why don't you hold him for a while?"

"W-What?" Thor asked, his eyes widening.

"He's damn heavy and my legs are falling asleep over here, besides, he's so drugged up right now I don't think he'll care who he's sleeping on."

The look of happiness on the thunderer's face was priceless. He came over quietly and gently, hesitantly slipped his arms under Loki's small frame. Tony unwrapped the god's little arms from his neck as Thor picked him up. Thor and Tony both smiled when Loki didn't even hesitate to shift in Thor's arms and wrap his arms around Thor's neck.

Thor held his brother gently, obviously overjoyed for this small moment of peace. The elevator door opened and Bruce, Clint, and Steve all walked in. When they saw that Thor was actually holding the sleeping Loki, they all tensed and moved slowly to their seats. Fury however seemed to have no common sense, he spoke at his usual volume.

"Now that everyone is finally here." Fury said, giving Clint a look. Clint instantly pointed at Bruce, appointing the blame.

"We would have been here sooner if Mr. Jekyll here had let me drive like a normal human being."

"Normal hu-you were trying to drive twenty miles over the speed limit." Bruce said, trying to keep his voice down as well as his heart beat.

"In this city, that's pretty normal." Tony said.

"In any case," Fury said, sounding annoyed. "Loki will be staying here from now on. I want someone with him at all times, he is not to leave the Tower unless I say so, and if he tries anything he is to be locked in the capsule downstairs."

"Whoa, easy," Tony said, glaring up at Fury. "Loki's behaved himself just fine without you bearing down like some damned martyr. I already said I would take care of him, I don't care if he has to be here, I'll still do just that."

"You sound like you're his dad or something." Clint said, giving Tony a strange look.

"Seeing as his real father is dead and his adoptive dad is a major ass hat that kidnapped him and lied to him about who and what he was for several millennia. Oh, not to mention the fact that he cut him a dozen time and turned him into a little kid...I think I make a pretty damn good dad." Tony said, crossing his arms and sitting back in his seat. The others were surprised by how angry Tony looked. Thor looked completely at a loss.

"You...Loki spoke to you?" Thor asked, holding his brother closer.

"Yeah, he did, I heard everything. All about you rushing into Jotunheim with your head up your ass and getting yourself banished to earth. I also know about Loki trying to destroy the ice giants just like you had by killing their king, his REAL father, and using that rainbow bridge thing to try and take out Jotunheim!" Tony's voice was escalating to dangerous levels. So much for walking on eggshells. Thor looked like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He held Loki close and looked away, avoiding everyone else's stares. Fury obviously sensed the imminent trouble and stepped in between the two, facing neither of them, but turning his head towards Tony.

"Thor, go put Loki to bed, there's no reason to keep him out here. Tony, I expect you to stay as sober as possible while you're here. I also expect to hear your opinion on the mall video soon."

Tony made an unhappy noise, but huffed and looked away. Thor simply nodded and left the room as quickly as he could, taking Loki to his new room and laying him down. When Thor came back Fury was gone and Clint and Steve were leaving to go train, saying they needed something to take their minds off of Loki. Natasha said she was going out on personal business and disappeared as well.

Bruce tried to invite Tony down to the lab to study a few things with him, but left when Tony just shook his head. Thor was going to run off when Tony growled and told him to sit his ass down. Thor did as he was told and sat in the chair across from Stark.

"I'm not very happy right now," Tony said, crossing his legs and sitting back in his chair. "but I want to hear everything from your point of view."

"Wha-?"

"I know better than to trust everything that comes out of Loki's mouth, so I want to hear what happened from you."

"It is a very long tale-"

"I sat for four hours, give or take, listening to Loki talk. I think I can sit through it again. Now spill."

Thor hesitantly told the tale from his perspective. Tony listened with the ears of a wolf, catching every single detail and lining up what he heard with Loki's story. So far everything lined up, but the way Thor told it it made Loki seem like the bad guy. The way Loki had told it had made him look more like a desperate, attention starved son. Thor's tale put Loki in the blackest of lights, making him seem like a mad, power-hungry man.

Tony had noticed Loki standing in the doorway, drowsy and depressed looking, by the time Thor reached the part about confronting Loki in their father's chambers. Tony said nothing though, pretending to stare Thor in the eyes, while in reality he was looking past him to lock eyes with Loki. When Thor ended his story with Loki letting go and dropping into abyss Tony gave a 'hm' and stood.

Thor watched him stand and move to the door, spotting Loki and quickly jumping to his feet. Thor tried to explain, but Tony cut him off and explained that he had asked Thor to tell him his side of the tale. Loki simply nodded and turned down the hall, Tony right behind. Thor couldn't bring himself to follow. Loki quickly found the kitchen area and walked inside, getting himself a glass of water and watching Tony grab a glass and a bottle of whiskey.

"I thought Fury wanted you to sober?" Loki said, catching Tony's eyes with his own.

"And I thought you were asleep."

"I was awake the moment Thor picked me up, his mere presence makes me itch."

"Then why did you let him hold you for so long?"

"I wanted to know what you all would say while I was 'asleep'..." Loki seemed to lose a bit of his snark. "Thank you for saying those things by the way..."

"Care to elaborate?"

"No..."

"Heh, fair enough." Tony said, putting the whiskey back and getting a glass of apple juice instead. He took a small drink and paused.

"Hey?"

"What?" Loki asked, looking back at the genius.

"Wanna play Grand Theft Auto with me?"

"...Play what?" Loki asked, looking utterly lost. He shrunk away when Tony laughed and motioned for Loki to follow him.

"Just follow me, I'll teach you how to play."

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**Yeeep, leave me love in the form of reviews and comments so I know how to improve and I'll post more. Night!**


	5. Games for the Weak

**Hey all, thank you so much for all the views, favorites, and follows! I love reading your reviews and seeing what you guys have to say! I'm sorry this took so long to upload, I've had a lot of stuff going on lately. I'm just warning you guys now, I have a book to convert from handwritten pages to the computer so I might not be able to work on this for a week. I'll try my best to work on it when I can and get a new chapter up soon. Enjoy!**

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"Turn left! Turn left!" Loki chirped, bouncing on his knees and pointing at the screen over Tony's shoulder. Loki shook the man with his free hand and pushed against his back, pointing at the police and SWAT cars that were streaming around the corners.

"Turn left!"

"I know!" Tony yelled back, yelping and swerving his car just in time to avoid collision. Loki spotted a ramp and yelled at Tony to take it. Tony didn't question it and went up the ramp, sailing through the air and landing safely on a rooftop.

"Now get out! Quick!" Loki yelled, fumbling with a sheet of paper in his small hands. Tony quickly left the beat-up yellow car and waited for Loki to speak again.

"Okay! Dial 267-555-0150!"

"Done!" Tony said, watching his star level jump up one. "What the! Now we're at six stars! Why are we at six stars!?" He barked, fumbling with the controller as multiple helicopters started to appear on his mini-map.

"I don't know! I don't-I read the wrong one! Quick! Dial 267-555-0100!"

"Okay! Okay!" Tony said, going as fast as he could, letting out a long breath and slumping forward when his wanted level disappeared and the cops and helicopters went away. Tony sat back up, squishing Loki between himself and the couch. Loki draped his arms over Tony's shoulders and set his head down on his left shoulder.

"That was awesome." Loki giggled, earning a giant smile from Tony.

"Yeah it was, scared the crap out of me with the wrong code though."

"Heheh, sorry, they looked really similar."

"No kidding."

"At least I got you to a rooftop this time."

"Yeah, instead of telling me to turn head first into a police car."

Loki started to giggle like mad.

"Yeah, but you know it was funny when you went flying out the front windshield and got ran over the moment you got up."

"Haha! Heck yes!"

Tony started to laugh, nodding and laughing along with Loki. Both of them laughed so hard that when Loki started to hiccup they both fell onto the couch, laughing even harder. When Loki finally calmed down enough he sat up and snatched the controller away.

"My turn!"

Tony didn't even argue, he just smiled and scooted over so Loki could sit. Loki refreshed his ammo and health using the cheat-sheet and got himself a helicopter. He then proceeded to get as close to the ground as possible and hit people with the blades. Tony kept score, adding ten points for every person he hit and subtracting five for every car or building he hit or bumped into.

By the time Clint and Steve walked in Loki had a substantial score of 215 with six stars. That is, before he ran straight into another helicopter, blowing both of them to pieces. Loki cursed and Tony laughed. Tony took notice of Steve and Clint and gave them a quick friendly gesture. Loki gave them only a quick, sharp glance over his shoulder before returning to his game.

"Hey man," Clint said, stepping up behind the couch. "and littler man, what are you doing?"

"Chopping people with the helicopter." Tony said, leaning back and laying his arms across the back of the couch. Steve frowned and stepped closer.

"Isn't that a little violent for a kid-"

"Watch your tongue soldier," Loki growled, not taking his eyes off the game, currently rising into the air in a new helicopter. "I may look young, but I am still your elder, besides, I have witnessed, experienced, and dealt far greater gore than this."

This did nothing for the three older men, making Steve swallow and Clint take a step back. The uneasy feeling vanished when Loki bailed out of his helicopter and landed face-first onto a random civilian. Somehow it killed his character, but launched the civilian into traffic where he was struck by a bus and flung across the screen. Loki let out a childish giggle and Tony tried his best not to smile. They heard the door open and instantly the controller was back in Tony's hands, Pepper stepping in with a bright smile.

"Hey boys, Natasha called me and told me you were here."

She noticed the game and frowned.

"Tony, I don't think that's a good game to play with Loki here, it's a bad influence on a young mind."

Surprisingly Loki said nothing, instead leaning over the back of the couch and smiling at her.

"What are you here for Ms. Potts?"

"I told you," She said, smiling back. "Call me Pepper. I'm here to kidnap you." She giggled, earning strange looks from all the men.

"What you talkin bout Pepper?" Tony asked in a comedic tone, pausing the game and looking back at her.

"I'm talking about stealing Loki away on a little play date, to thank him for yesterday. Oh, and to give him this back." She said, pulling Loki's scarf out of her bag, smiling when Loki brightened and snatched it gratefully. He wrapped it around his neck and nuzzled it as Steve tried to speak.

"I don't-"

"Sounds grand." Loki said, covering up Steve's voice and hopping over the couch. "I'd love to go."

Pepper smiled and Tony stood up, surprised when Pepper wagged a finger at him.

"Nu-uh, just Loki and I today, no big boys."

"But Pep-" Tony started, falling silent when Pepper gave him a look and motioned for Loki to follow her. Clint moved in front of her and held his arm out to block their path.

"Forgive me Pepper, but Fury said Loki can't leave without his permission."

"Who do you think I asked before I came here?"

The men blinked and she moved Clint's arm out of her way. There was a sly smile on Loki's face as he ran off with Pepper, Tony shifting uncomfortably until Clint spoke up.

"We going to keep an eye on them or what?"

"You bet your feathers we are."

Tony Clint, and Steve all followed them from a distance. They used Steve's car for less noticeability and used a tracker Clint had placed on Loki to follow them. Tony would also be having a conversation with Clint about the tracker before day's end. They followed them to a small park, where they got ice cream and sat on a bench together. It was literally the quietest little trip ever.

They went to a small arcade where Pepper showed Loki a few different games and the little god won her a small white teddy bear with a green bow-tie. They then had lunch at a hotdog cart before running off to a game and book store. Pepper bought a few books and games for Loki, refusing to show or tell him what she got. They then headed back to the Tower, while the boys all rushed to get back before them.

Pepper dropped Loki off and left after he got in the elevator. When he walked into the living room he found all three men sitting around the TV playing Mario Cart, currently Clint and Tony were fighting for first. Loki smiled and walked in, climbing up and sitting behind Tony without a word, leaning against him and watching the game.

"I'm impressed." Loki said, setting down the bag in his hands on the couch.

"With what? My epic pawnage skills?" Tony asked, knocking Clint off with a banana peal.

"No, with the fact that you were able to stalk us without Pepper noticing."

All the men flinched and they paused the game.

"You knew?"

"Of course I knew," Loki laughed. "I knew better than to think you would leave a 'dangerous trickster' alone with 'poor Miss Potts'. It was entertaining to watch you though, sneaking around like you were masters of stealth and would never be seen. I'll commend your efforts to cover it up though."

Tony frowned and watched Loki pull two games out of his bag, holding them out in front of Tony.

"What are these?" Tony asked.

"Two games Pepper bought, she said they were 'cooperative', so you and I could play together."

"Portal Two and Borderlands Two, damn, she's good." Clint muttered, an excited look in his eyes as he glanced over the games.

"Well?" Loki asked, holding the games up in an unspoken question.

"No no no," Tony said, shrugging Loki off and standing up. "If we're gonna play the second ones, you gotta play the first ones first."

With no protest on Loki's part Tony set up the original Portal and handed the controller to Loki. In no time they had the lights off, their shoes off, two big bowls of popcorn, soda, and the volume turned way up. Loki sat on the couch with Steve on one side and Tony on the other, while Clint and Bruce (who had come in for a drink and had gotten sucked in) sat on the smaller couch.

They were all so sucked into the game that when they finally finished it they looked at the clock and muttered a collective 'Shit'. While Tony put the game away the others quickly cleaned up. Loki gave a giant yawn and Tony told him to hit the hay.

"Before I do," Loki said, looking up at Tony with tired eyes. "do you by change have those 'pain-killers' with you?"

"Of course." Tony said, pulling the bottle out of his pocket. "How bad?"

Tony frowned when Loki made a face and refused to answer. It had to be bad. Tony dropped three of the pills into his hand and held them out. Loki took them gratefully and tossed them back, letting out a sigh and saying a quiet 'good night' before going to his room. Everyone quickly dispersed to their respected room and the tower fell quiet.

Once again Tony awoke to voices, though this time it was mixed with laughter and Thor's booming voice. Tony changed his clothes, having extras in his room since he was a reoccurring visitor, and made his way to the living room. Tony had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn't still asleep and was dreaming up what he saw. Sitting side-by-side on the couch, a little more than a foot apart, playing co-op Portal 2, were Loki and Thor.

Thor was dying repeatedly, obviously having no clue how to play, while Loki would nonchalantly push him off platforms or 'accidently' kill him. Loki let out a roaring laugh when he moved a portal just in time to make Thor, who was playing as Atlas, smash into the wall and fall into the liquid below. Thor made a noise that sounded like a snorting bull and declared he would make it this time. Loki ignored him and glanced back a Tony with a smile.

"Morning." Loki chirped, his bright green eyes flashing in the sunlight that crept through the window.

"Morning..." Tony said, still a little shell-shocked from seeing Loki and Thor so close. "You feeling okay?" Tony asked, stepping up behind the couch. Loki raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.

"Of course, soar still, but I am fine. Why do you ask?"

"No reason." Tony said, forcing a toothy smile and redirecting his attention to the game. "How long have you guys been playing?"

"Not long, only an hour or two."

"Loki was kind enough to allow me to join him in the endeavor of 'testing' for this 'Glados' person." Thor said, his booming voice a little too loud for so early in the morning. Tony gave a small chuckle when Thor was crushed under a spike-plate and Loki was able to zoom right past. The thunderer was starting to get annoyed with dying so many times and was getting more and more reckless and impatient. The bad part was that this ended with him dying even more times. Tony smiled for a second before frowning. He leaned down over the couch and looked Loki in the eye.

"Have you eaten anything?" He asked, earning a barely noticeable frown from the boy.

"No, but I'm fine."

"Mhm, pause it." Tony said, heading for the kitchen when Thor paused the game. Tony noticed Loki wasn't following him and stopped at the door, giving him a look.

"Well? Come on little man, you gotta eat."

Loki put on a look of indifference and put the controller down before jumping over the couch and following Tony. Thor decided against following them and instead changed the TV so he could watch some cartoons. Tony had Loki sit at the table while he brought him a glass of juice and made him some food.

"So what do you want? I don't mean to brag, but I make a mean omelet." Tony said, leaning on the counter with a proud grin. Loki took a drink of his juice before looking over at him.

"It does not matter to me, the mere idea of you being able to cook comes as a surprise."

Tony made a pouty face and turned away to fetch a few things from the fridge. He asked what Loki wanted in it and was again answered with 'I don't care'. In the end he settled for cheese, ham, green pepper, green onion, cream cheese, and tomato. When he set it down in front of Loki he blinked when Loki instantly started to chomp down, finishing the massive omelet in only a few minutes.

"Heh, want another one?" Tony asked, grinning when Loki wiped his mouth with his napkin, but nodded. Tony made two more before Loki was done, making a loud purring noise when he leaned back in his seat. Tony made himself a cup of coffee and sat across from the stuffed godling.

"So," Tony started, catching Loki's attention before continuing. "what's up with the playing video games with Thor? I thought you were pissed at him."

"I am," Loki said, stretching his arms above his head and popping his back. "I just played with him because I wanted to see him fail. Quite miserably I might add."

Loki gave an evil smile and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Sure you did-"

Both boys turned when Bruce stepped in, spotting Tony and walking over.

"Hey, I'm glad to see you awake," Bruce said, shifting the clipboard in his hand. "I've made some progress with...um...'that' and wanted your help with a few experiments. Think you're up for it?"

"Sure," Tony said, draining his coffee and standing up. "I'll see you in a few, kay kiddo?"

Loki nodded and got up to return to playing Portal with Thor. Tony however disappeared downstairs with Banner. Time flew by like a bullet train, catching up with Stark before he knew what had happened. After six hours in the lab with Banner they came back upstairs for a break, surprised to see Clint and Natasha there as well as Loki pinned to the floor by Thor's hammer.

Loki kicked and struggled against the weight of Mjolnir, spitting out insults and curses in a language none of them, save Thor, understood. Loki was trying his damnedest to get the hammer off his chest, pulling and pushing on it a million different ways. Thor ignored him and sat down in the armchair, picking up his controller.

"You're going to stay there until you have calmed down and can behave yourself, little brother."

Loki growled and tried to look over at his brother, slamming his fist against the ground in anger.

"Thor! Don't you dare leave me like this!"

He cursed again when Thor started up the game and ignored his little brother's yelling. Stark and the others glanced at each other and quickly walked over to Thor. While the others sat, Clint picking up the player two controller, Tony stood and crossed his arms.

"What the hell happened?" Tony asked, studying the intense glare on Thor's face. "You finally figure out Loki was killing you on purpose?"

"I knew his intentions before," Thor growled. "but he crossed the line when he insulted the archer."

"He insulted feather brains? How?"

"...He brought up old pains."

Tony pressed his mouth into a thin line and glanced over at Clint, noticing the hurt he was trying to hide.

"He brought up Coulson didn't he?"

Everyone in the room tensed and Thor nodded ever so slightly.

"Ah, Loki." Tony called, hearing Loki fall silent in his grumbling for a moment. "You're grounded for a week and you get to lay there until you apologize to Hawkeye. And I mean a REAL apology, got it?"

Loki said nothing and Tony let out a sigh, ignoring him in favor of watching his friends play Portal. Almost an hour passed before Banner stood up, asking if anyone wanted something to drink. Bruce got Clint, Tony, and himself cups of coffee, while he got Thor and Natasha glasses of water. On his way back with the two glasses of water Bruce noticed Loki had his eyes shut and looked almost like he was in pain. Bruce brought the glasses to Thor and Natasha and sat back down next to Tony.

"Something's up with Loki." He whispered, just loud enough for Stark to hear. Tony set his cup down and leaned back over the couch. Loki was glaring at the ceiling with a look that was something between hurt and irritation.

"You okay down there Loki?" Stark asked, receiving only Loki's bright eyes glaring silently at him for a moment as a reply, before they returned to the ceiling. Stark frowned and sat up more so he could turn to actually look at him.

"Hey, you oka-?"

"I'm fine." Loki gasped, sounding strangely out of breath. Stark studied him for a moment before realizing that Loki was breathing short, ragged breaths using only his diaphragm. His eyes were half-lidded and slightly glazed over and he looked on the verge of passing out. Tony cursed internally and stood up, walking around to kneel next to Loki. Thor and the others noticed and paused the game to watch.

"Apologize." Tony said, earning a very dark glare from the godling.

"No." Loki growled.

"That hammer is making it difficult for you to breathe isn't it? Apologize or you get to sit there for the rest of the night."

"..." Loki grit his teeth and glared even more at the man above him. Tony sighed and started to stand.

"F-Fine," Loki gasped, turning his head away. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Tony asked, crossing his arms. Loki gave him a warning glare, but spoke again with anger in his small voice.

"I'm sorry for insulting Mr. Barton and bringing up bad memories."

"Good enough." Stark said, motioning for Thor to remove his hammer. Thor didn't even have to move, he just raised his hand and Mjolnir flew to him. Against his own will Loki gasped and rolled onto his side, coughing and taking deep breaths. Tony waited until Loki could breathe properly before helping him to his feet.

"Go to your room," Stark said, ignoring the anger in Loki's eyes. "I'll come get you when dinner is ready."

Loki said nothing as he left the room, steam practically rising off his head. Tony ran a hand through his hair and rejoined the group on the couch.

"Okay Point Break, my turn."

Thor said nothing as he tossed the controller to Stark and Tony and Clint settled into the game.

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**Probably not the best idea to piss off your brother there, Loki.**

**Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and will leave me a review or comments. ;P Love you guys!**


	6. Feeling Raw

**Uhg, I'm sorry for how long this took guys, I haven't been feeling well lately. I'm also distracted with a few other things lately, the next chapter IS in the works though, so you shouldn't have to wait TOO long for it.**

**As always, thank you for the reviews, faves, and follows ^^ Lets me know that this thing is actually worth continuing.  
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**Love you all and I hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!  
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"Loki, dinner time kiddo." Tony said, knocking on Loki's door and waiting for a response. When there was none he knocked again and waited. When after five minutes he got no response Stark tried the handle and found it locked.

"Loki? Hey, open the door."

He jigged the handle and frowned, taking a step back and slamming his shoulder into the door. He almost fell on his face when it swung open with ease. He stumbling into the dark room and instantly spotted Loki sitting in the dark. Loki was sitting in the middle of the room in a meditative position, his shirt missing. The bandages that usually covered his wounds were missing as well and one could see the stitches that marred his back and shoulders. Tony could almost swear that Loki's skin was tinted a strange blue color. Tony felt his heart stop when Loki turned his head towards him, bright red eyes glaring at him with a bloodthirsty glare. Tony blinked and suddenly they were gone, the blue hue and red eyes replaced with pale skin and green orbs.

"What?" Loki asked, sounding in no mood to be bothered.

"Dinner." Tony finally said, swallowing his stomach. Loki stood and turned to face him, raising an eyebrow when he saw his stunned stare.

"What's wrong Anthony?"

"Y-You were...b-blue?" Tony stuttered, moving out of the way after Loki had re-donned his shirt. Loki said nothing, but smiled and gave Tony an 'I don't know what you're talking about' look. Tony just shook his head and blamed it on the lighting. Loki strode past him but paused at the door that led to the kitchen and dining area. Tony paused as well and noticed the nervousness in Loki's posture.

"...I could just bring you a plate if you're afr-"

"I am not a coward Anthony." Loki growled, opening the door and walking inside like he owned the place. The others quickly spotted him and pretended to ignore him immediately after. Loki followed Stark in getting a plate and dishing up a pile of white-sauce pasta from the counter. It was full of chunks of chicken and broccoli with so much cheese in it that it came out in strings. After dishing up they moved to the table and Loki sat between Thor, only because it was between him or Clint, and Tony.

The group was deathly quiet as they ate, Thor and Banner to be the first to finish and get second helpings, followed by Loki. Before anyone knew what had happened it became a small contest between the three of them. It ended when they ran out of food, Bruce ending up as the victor with four full plates practically licked clean. Clint and Tony cleaned up and did dishes while the others sat and talked, Loki disappeared again the moment he was finished.

When Tony and Clint finished Clint joined the group while Tony went to find Loki. He looked in his room, but found it empty. He looked around the living room and found that too void of life.

"Jarvis, locate Loki."

"Mr. Laufeyson appears to be on the first floor, sir."

"Shit!" Tony said, dashing for the elevator and pressing the button, ordering Jarvis to speed up his descent. Stark had to hold on as the elevator picked up speed, stopping suddenly on the first floor. When Tony ran out he spotted Loki standing at the front door talking to a man with a large box. Loki spotted him and gave him an all-knowing grin.

"Ah, Anthony, I was just about to come get you."

"Oh really? What for?" Stark asked skeptically, walking up.

"Um, sorry to bother you Mr. Stark," The man with the box muttered. "You have a delivery, I n-need you to sing I-I mean sign for it..."

"Hm, I guess I could sing for it if I had to." Tony said, crossing his arms and stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Oh please don't," Loki said, sounding mockingly horrified. "You don't need to damage this poor man's ears, just sign for it and let him go."

"All right, all right." Tony said, shrugging and signing the paper the man held out. The man then tried to hand the large box to Tony, but it was swiped by Loki and carried off to the elevator. Tony shrugged and patted the man on the shoulder.

"Kids, they have to do everything on their own."

The man gave a nervous laugh and left as quickly as possible, while Tony caught up to Loki and jumped into the elevator.

"So. How did you-?"

"I have my ways." Loki said, cutting Tony off as he adjusted the box from his arms to the top of his head. When the elevator door opened Loki stepped out and headed for his room. Clint and Thor stepped out of the dining room in time to spot Loki with his box.

"What is in the box, brother?" Thor asked, making Loki pause in front of his door for only a moment.

"Just a few skinned cat heads. I thought my room needed redecorating."

Both men looked beyond horrified, Tony had to stifle a laugh and stepped forward.

"Relax guys, he's just kidding. I bought him some clothes a few days ago and they just delivered them."

Both men just looked disturbed and moved down the hall, Loki on the other hand gave a cheshire grin and disappeared into his room. Tony just sighed and moved to the living room, finding it empty, even though the television was on. Tony's ears perked when he heard the water in Loki's bathroom turn on.

'About time that kid took a shower.' Stark mused to himself, double checking to make sure there really was no one in the room before pulling out a hidden bottle of absinthe and taking a rather large chug straight from the bottle. It burned all the way down and made him choke a little on how strong it was. He gave a short cough and quickly re-corked the bottle and put it back in it's hiding place. He then tossed himself down on the couch and watched Mythbusters as the alcoholic beverage moved through his system.

Tony didn't know how long he had been asleep for he heard the door open. His eyes dragged themselves open and he reached up to grab the back of the couch. He pulled himself into a sitting position and instantly regretted it when he saw who had come in. Fury, in his dark, foreboding trench-coat was standing there, giving him a 'less-than-impressed' look. Stark let out a mild groan and flopped back down.

"Can't you ever just call first?" Tony whined, tossing an arm across his eyes.

"Normally I would, but I'd rather you didn't warn Loki I was coming."

At this Tony sat up and glared over the back of the couch at the director.

"Warn?" Tony asked in a low tone that carried a hint of warning.

"Relax Stark, I just didn't want him bolting like he tried to do with Thor-"

Tony jumped to his feet with a look of anger on his face.

"You were watching?!"

"I am always watching Stark, you should know that better than anyone."

"That's it, SHIELD is so getting a virus when I'm not smashed."

Fury raised an eyebrow.

"I thought I said I wanted you as sober as possible."

"You spy. I drink." Tony replied, spotting the handle of the door jiggle and the door swing open. Loki only took one step inside before he froze, his bright green eyes wide and his jaw locked tight. Loki's hair was wet, obviously from just getting out of the shower, and slicked back into his usual style. He was now wearing a pair of slim black jeans and a leaf green, turtle-neck sweater. His scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck while his feet were bare. Tony paused, not sure if it was anger, fear, or some combination of both that held Loki's expression.

"Good afternoon, Director." Loki said in a low, even tone, his expression falling away to nothingness. Fury took a step to the side and motioned to the chair.

"Care to join us Mr. Odinson-?"

"Laufeyson."

"Of course." Fury said, sounding mockingly apologetic. Loki ignored him and walked further into the room, hopping up into the chair and crossing his legs in one swift movement. Tony could see by the way his hands stroked his scarf that Loki was more than just a bit uncomfortable.

"So," Loki said, sitting back in his seat and tugging at the edge of his scarf. "to what do we owe this honor?"

"I came to ask Stark what he thought of the video I gave him a few nights ago."

"What vide-oh! That one!" Tony said, flicking the end of his goatee with his thumb. "It was okay I guess, the content was decent, but the cinematic perspective was lacking-"

"Tony." Fury warned, earning a small shrug from the man.

"What do you want me to say? Why don't you ask him?" Tony asked, jutting a thumb at Loki, who raised an eyebrow. Fury made a face but turned towards the television and asked Jarvis to play video file 5654-76275. The screen lit up and the three of them watched the mall clip again. When Loki's little snarl appeared on screen the real Loki frowned and pressed his back against his seat. When the scene was done Fury looked over at Loki with a hard stare.

"Well?"

"I agree with Anthony, the cinematic aspect was average at best."

Tony gave a short snort, quickly silencing himself with a look from Fury. Fury placed his hands on the back of the couch and leaned over it, keeping his eyes on Loki.

"Since I can tell you won't give me a straight answer as to why you reacted so violently at the mall, answer me this. Why haven't you used your magic to heal yourself?"

"He doesn't have his mag-"

"Yes he does." Fury said, cutting Tony off mid-sentence. "Our scanners detect a steady amount of magic radiating off him."

"It's not mine." Loki said, seemingly calm as he looked over at Fury. "It's Odin's, the magic you're detecting is what he used to seal me in this form and to seal my own magic."

Fury was quiet for a moment, his eye narrowed dangerously as he looked Loki over for any form of deception.

"If it wasn't for your brother, I would have had you dragged back to SHIELD and locked up so tight even this 'Heimdal' wouldn't be able to see you."

"Remind me to thank him sometime." Loki mocked, his nose wrinkling in distaste. Fury did the same and bid them both a quiet goodnight, giving Tony a warning to keep his 'boy' in check.

"My 'boy'?" Tony muttered, tuning his head to glance at Loki. "I was kidding about the me being a good dad thing."

Loki was quiet for a moment before getting up and moving to sit next to Tony.

"I think you make a fine father figure, Anthony." Loki said, offering the tiniest of smiles before directing his attention to the television. "Now, if you're up for It, I'd rather like to try this 'Borderlands Two' game that Pepper bought us."

"...Heh, I'm always up for a little violence and mayhem. I call the Soldier though!"

"Fair enough, I'd personally like to try the assassin."

Instantly both men found themselves a pair to be reckoned with, slaughtering everything in their path with minimal casualties on their end. Loki found that Zero's ability was much like his own and was a master at utilizing it, he also found he had a fondness for fire weapons. Tony however liked shock weapons much more, finding things were easier to kill when their shields were gone. He also was incredibly fond of placing Axton's Sabre Turret close to cover to take out enemies while he charged in, guns ablaze.

Once again they played for quite a while, stopping finally when they both reached level ten. Having not seen anyone else all night, Tony told Loki to hit the hay and went to find the other residents that lived in his tower. Loki only yawned and traipsed away to his room. Tony eventually found Bruce and Steve downstairs working on something.

"Hey kids," Stark said as he entered, running a hand through his hair in order to brush it out of his face. "Behaving yourselves?"

"Hey Tony, didn't know you were still awake." Bruce said, still focusing mostly on his work.

"Yeah, had a little 'surprise visit' from tall, dark, and one-eyed."

"Oh? What did he want?"

"Just curious about the magic Loki was emitting."

Bruce looked up this time.

"Magic? Loki still has his-?"

"No, it's Odin's. It's the magic that's keeping him a kid."

"Oh, is he in bed?"

"Yeah, we were playing Borderlands Two for a while to shake off the uneasiness Fury left behind."

"Um..." Steve muttered, his eye brows knitting together. "I thought Loki was grounded."

"Wha-DAMN IT! I forgot!" Tony yelled, double face-palming and raging for a minute. "Little bastard tricked me!"

"Tricked you?" Bruce said with a hint of doubt. "I doubt that, you're probably just drunk. Am I right?"

"Not anymore...kinda was at the time though...shut up." Tony said, taking a seat at the table Bruce was working at. "Anyway, what are you two doing down here this late? Usually I'm the night owl."

"Fury called me up earlier and asked me to do some research. He wants me to study Steve's DNA and find out what it was that allowed him to withstand being frozen for nearly 70 years."

"Why didn't he ask me to help?" Tony asked in an almost whiney tone, Bruce just rolled his eyes.

"He said you have enough on your plate keeping Loki in check, he didn't want you distracted."

"Ha!" Tony exclaimed, jumping to his feet and pushing up imaginary long sleeves. "Then he doesn't know how well I can multitask! Gimme the details!"

Banner just smiled and went about filling Tony in on his progress. Steve had fallen asleep in his chair long before the men had finished spitting ideas to each other. Steve eventually woke back up when they needed to ask him a few questions and take a few blood samples. They worked until Natasha stepped out of the elevator, dressed in surprisingly lax clothing, consisting of a pair of jeans and a simple red dress top. She gave them a look and put her hands on her hips.

"How long are you all planning to stay down here?"

"How long have we BEEN down here?" Tony asked, just now noticing how utterly exhausted he sounded.

"Well, since it's about two in the afternoon, I'd say a little over 12 hours."

"Shit, is Loki-?"

"He's fine, he got bored and passed out on the couch-"

"Did he eat anything?" Tony asked, getting a curious blink from the red headed woman.

"No?"

"Damn, all right." Tony grumbled, getting up from his seat that he had practically become one with and rolling his shoulders. "I think a break would do us good anyway."

"Yeah...we can pick it up again later..." Banner muttered, watching Tony nod, fix his clothing, and hop into the elevator. Natasha, Steve, and Bruce all shared a quiet glance, unsure of what to say. Tony stepped into the living room and found a massive mound of blankets piled atop Loki's small frame, only the top of his shaggy black hair showed. Tony snickered and walked around to the front of the couch, grabbing the edge of the blanket and pulling it back.

Next thing Tony knew he was flat on his back with Loki's legs pinning his arms and the boy sitting on his chest. One hand was placed roughly between Tony's collarbones, while the other was held as a fist just to the side of his neck. It was held in a way that Tony almost expected a knife to appear out of thin air to slit his throat with, thankfully, one never came. Tony swallowed and looked up at Loki's thin face, noticing the angry, yet dull, half-hearted eyes that looked down at him.

"Lo-?!" Tony jumped when Loki suddenly slumped forward, his head falling just to the right of Tony's. Tony almost burst out in laughter when he heard Loki start to purr again.

"Are you alright sir?" Jarvis asked, his disembodied voice echoing slightly.

"Fine Jarvis, nothing to worry about. Kid's got a bit of the 'kill whatever touches me while I sleep' thing going on..." Tony muttered quietly, shifting Loki off of him and picking him up, giving a small grunt at the weight. Tony found it unsurprising to find that Loki had traded his green turtle-neck from yesterday for an almost identical black one. He set him back on the couch and pulled the the blanket back into place. Loki seemed to settle back into the couch like nothing had happened. Tony just sighed and decided he would make food first, THEN wake Loki up. Tony moved to the kitchen and found Clint, in only a pair of sweats eating a massive, meat-packed sandwich and chugging a glass of milk.

"Hey there Tweety!" Tony said, loud enough to startle Clint into choking on his sandwich. Clint turned around with such force, Stark was sure a lesser man might have snapped his own neck. Clint finished swallowing before begrudgingly asking why Tony was there.

"What? I can't use the kitchen in my own tower?"

"Not when you sneak up on me, no."

"I thought you were Mr. Bad-ass-assassin?"

"...I know where you sleep at night."

"And I have a giant suit of armor that I could wipe the floor with you with."

Both men glared at each other, it was a playfully daring glare, but a glare nonetheless. Tony made a noise and moved to the fridge, pulling out what he needed before dumping it all on the counter.

"The hell are you doing?" Clint asked, watching Tony pull out a bowl.

"Making waffles, hopefully of the blueberry persuasion."

"...Do you even know HOW to make waffles?"

"Of course!...I think? It can't be that hard..."

"Just...Just move over..." Clint said with a sigh, forcing Tony to move and quickly taking over. The only mishap during the entire process was Tony trying to mix the batter with a high-speed mixer. That resulted in the kitchen becoming a war zone and them having to clean up the mess before restarting the process. When they were done they had massive stacks of blueberry waffles on three separate plates. The smell must have traveled through the entire building, because the entire team seemed to crawl out of the woodwork.

Tony stole a small stack and ran off, leaving the rest of the waffles to the group. He stepped into the living room and found Loki was already awake, sitting up with the blankets resting around his lower half as he yawned.

"Afternoon sleepy-head, hungry?" Tony asked, holding up the plate when Loki glanced sleepily in his direction.

"Hm." Loki grunted, his hair fluffed out in a bad case of bed-head. Tony just smiled and walked over, setting the plate down and flopping down on the couch, snatching a single, buttery waffle off the plate and munching down. It took Loki a minute but he ignore the fork that sat on the side of the plate and followed Stark's example. Loki ate quietly as he started to wake up, slowly becoming more aware of the world around him. When Loki had eaten his five blueberry waffles and had licked his fingers clean he sat back and pulled the blanket up around his shoulders. Tony noticed him give a small shiver and frowned.

"You okay there Riddles?"

Loki just nodded, leaning back down to rest his head on the arm of the couch.

"You don't seem fine." Tony said in a rather flat tone of voice. Loki didn't turn his head, but did look over at him.

"I'm fine Anthony, my body is just not healing the way I need it to..."

"Not healing the way you need it to? What does that mean?"

"They are leaving scars...I can't let that...happen..." Loki was once again out cold, small tremors wracking his body as he purred. Tony frowned and moved with the utmost care, hooking a finger in Loki's collar and pulling it away so he could see the back of his shoulder. New and raw, unstitched and unbandaged wounds greeted him from within the black cloth.

"Damn it Loki-"

* * *

**What does this mean?! Meh, I guess you'll all just have to wait for the next chapter to find out. I, however, am going to bed, I've been up all night (It's two in the morning here) listening to old Rush Albums with my Dad. (He use to be a DJ so he has all the good shit.) You guys can thank him for me getting this chapter done, music helps me write for some reason. (I swear every time the music stopped my brain died and I stopped writing.)**

**Anyways, leave a comment, review blah blah blah you guys know how I am, don't know why I bother to keep saying it over and over again. Whatever. Night guys!**


	7. Making It All Better

**Oh my Glob! Another chapter so soon!? What is this madness!?  
**

**...I'm kinda surprised I got this done today. I had a horrible, crappy day, some little shit has been harassing my brother so I had to walk him home from school. I know the kid's face now though. I may be a girl, but I am a brick shit-house. NO ONE fucks with me OR my little bro. I swear, if this kid messes with my brother I will tear him apart...**

**On a happier note-**

**X3 Seriously! I love you guys! You're all so sweet! I never thought this story would be as popular as it is, I'm actually fighting to keep up! I'm just going to warn you guys though, this is the last 'slow' chapter before things start to get interesting, so enjoy it while it lasts.**

**To Msgone: Are you in my head? Stop. Stop that right now.**

**To Eversotd: Music is definitely the best remedy for a writing block, that's for sure.**

**To Amy: I guess you'll just have to read and find out. :P Muahaha!**

**To everyone else: Thank you guys so much for commenting ^^ let's me know what you guys think and if I'm doing good. (or bad)**

* * *

Bruce and Steve turned as the elevator dinged and opened, releasing a small protest that was coming from Loki. Tony strode in, his hand wrapped tightly around Loki's upper arm, and headed straight for the infirmary door. Bruce opened his mouth to speak and was instantly cut off by Tony.

"Just don't, Banner." Tony growled, practically kicking the door open and dragging Loki inside. Unable to resist their curiosity Bruce and Steve got up and moved to stand in the doorway. Tony dragged Loki to one of the beds and released his arm.

"SIT." Tony said, turning away to grab a few things. Loki however just stood there, his body stiff as he stared at Tony. Stark took notice and his eyes narrowed.

"Sit. Down." He said, watching Loki slowly reach behind him to grip the edge of the bed and slide himself up onto the soft little cot.

"Shirt off." Tony said, turning back to what he was doing. This time Loki swallowed, frowned, and gripped the edge of the bed. Tony gave an irritated sigh and turned to face him.

"Take the damn thing off or I will cut it off and I'm not exactly going to be very steady with scissors at the moment."

Loki hesitated for a moment but looked away to the floor and slipped his shirt up over his head.

"Holy shit-" Banner muttered, moving into the room so fast that Tony didn't even have time to get a word in. To Tony the sight was nothing relatively new, to Bruce and Steve, it was a horrific thing to see. Loki's previously cleaned and stitched runes were all reopened and had been sliced back open just enough to stop them from healing, but not enough to cause much bleeding. Loki held deathly still as Banner looked him over.

"W-What the hell is this?" Bruce stammered, looking from Loki to Tony for an answer. Tony gave a snort and crossed his arms.

"This is the 'magic' Odin left on him, but the last time I saw it it was sewn up and healing quite nicely-"

"Healing?! This is less than a day old!" Bruce yelled.

"I know that, now I just want to know why." Stark said, locking eyes with Loki, who sighed.

"I told you, Anthony," Loki said, still sounding tired. "they were leaving scars...I can't let that happen-"

"They're WOUNDS Loki! They tend to leave scars!"

"Not for me Anthony!" Loki yelled back, yanking his arm away from Bruce. "Gods do not scar Anthony! It's because of this magic that it leaves a mark! If it scars then...then it..." Loki's voice hitched in his throat.

"Then it what?" Tony asked, sounding impatient.

"Then it becomes permanent..."

The others could see the panic in Loki's eyes, not matter how hard he was trying to hide it.

"What becomes permanent?" Steve asked, taking a step into the room.

"This form...if...if these," Loki motioned to his wounds "leave scars then even the strongest of magic could not change me back..."

This seemed to drop the room into a morbid quiet, only Loki's raspy breaths echoed off the white walls. Eventually Tony gave a long sigh and ran his hands over his face.

"What the hell did you even reopen them with in the first place?" He asked.

"...A shard of glass...from the mirror in my bathroom..."

"Uhg, damn it Loki..." Tony groaned. "Well, if you won't let me sew them up, let me at least bandage the damn things so they don't get infected. Banner, help me out."

Bruce gave a curt nod and both men went about cleaning and rebandaging Loki's torso. Loki simply sat there, looking beyond tired and not really all there. When they were almost finished Tony looked Loki in the eyes and gave him a short warning.

"Next time, you come to me to reopen them. You do this again and I cauterize them shut. Got it?"

Tony saw a weak smile try to tug at Loki's lips as he nodded.

"Good," Tony said, pulling out two of his painkillers and handing them to loki. "take these and go back to bed. You look like shit."

Loki made no protest as he took the pills, slid off the bed, re-donned his shirt, and made for the elevator.

"Loki." Tony called, making the godling pause and glance back at him. "When you wake up, come back down here so I know you're awake."

Loki nodded and went back upstairs. Tony, Bruce, and Steve went back to work on their previous project, needing something to distract them. Clint ended up coming down after a few hours to steal Steve away to train. About six hours went by before Loki rejoined them, coming in with a thin blanket wrapped around him. He took a seat close to Tony and quietly watched them work, falling back asleep in no time. Eventually they hit a block and had to stop, both men sitting back in their seats.

"Well, what now?" Stark asked. Bruce just shook his head.

"I...don't know, nothing we do is providing any results."

"Maybe we should drop Steve in a tub full of ice."

"N-Actually...What about liquid nitrogen?"

"You wanna drop Cap in a tub of liquid nitrogen?"

"No Tony, but if we test how well his blood, skin, nervous system, and muscle tissue withstand the cold and how much damage they withstand or sustain-"

"We can narrow down what kept him alive and go from there."

"Exactly."

"Good! I'll find the liquid nitrogen. You start setting up the tests. Jarvis, locate Rogers and tell him to get his ass back down here."

"Yes sir." The AI replied from the ceiling.

When Steve came in he was less than excited to have a section of skin and muscle taken from the inside of his arm. He was a bit less upset about the blood they took. While Bruce bandaged Rogers' arm, Tony set about separating everything they needed. They let Steve go back upstairs while they set to work. It took nearly two hours before they got the results they wanted. Tony was so absorbed in his work that he let out a small squeak when Loki's voice sounded right next to his ear.

"What are you doing?" He asked, blinking and taking a step back when Tony jumped up from his chair.

"Damn kid! Don't sneak up on me while I'm working." Tony said, clutching his shirt in a mock heart attack. Loki just rolled his eyes.

"You're fine, Anthony."

"Says you-" Tony froze when he realized he had dropped his liquid nitrogen on the floor, spilling it right by Loki's feet. Tony grabbed the back of Loki's shirt and pulled him backward.

"The hell Anthony?!" Loki grumbled, rubbing his neck where his collar had dug into it.

"Sorry kiddo, you almost stepped in some cold-ass shit."

Loki raised a brow and looked down, kneeling so he could inspect the strange, misting liquid further.

"What is it?"

"Liquid nitrogen, shit'll freeze almost anything into a block of solid ic-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Tony yelled as Loki ran the tips of his fingers through the liquid, rubbing it between his fingers before looking up.

"What?" Loki asked, sounding as innocent as they come. "I wanted to see how cold it actually was, it's not too bad."

Tony just stood there, jaw on the floor as Loki snapped his fingers to get the little bit of frost off and stood up. Tony just threw his hands up in defeat.

"I give up! You gods are too damn hard to understand."

Loki heard Banner give a small chuckle and smiled.

"You forget Anthony, I'm a Jotun, cold doesn't effect me."

"Why do you always wear such warm clothing and run around with a blanket then?" Bruce asked, looking up from his work.

"Unfortunately," Loki said, sounding irritated. "as a child my body is not as adept to keeping warm as it usually would be. If my temperature falls too low...physical aspects start to take over."

"What does that mean?" Tony mused.

"It means I become more of a monster than I already am." Loki said. Tony and Bruce both flinched at the strange amount of venom that dripped from Loki's voice. Loki brushed his hair back with a hand and moved back to his chair, picked his blanket up and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"I'd rather NOT have that happen any time soon." Loki muttered, moving to disappear back upstairs. Tony glanced back at Bruce, who waved him off, and jogged after Loki. They both rode up the elevator in silence until they reached the living room, where Thor and Pepper were watching television. Pepper turned her head and lifted a glass full of with what looked like red wine, to them in greetings.

"Hey there Loki, how are you today?" She asked as he stepped closer.

"...Well enough, how are you Pepper?" Loki asked with a smile, while purposefully ignoring Thor.

"I'm alright, I finished all of my work for today really early, so I thought I would come say hello."

"Finished early? It's almost...what time IS it?" Tony asked, looking around.

"About eight in the morning." Pepper said, taking a sip from her drink. Tony face-palmed and cursed.

"I need to start wearing a damn watch."

"Yes, you do," Pepper agreed with a smile. "but for now, you boys should come relax for a bit."

Tony almost agreed when she held up a bottle of port, but said he needed a shower first. Loki however shook his head and said he was going to his room for a while.

"Stay away from that mirror!" Tony yelled after him as the door shut. Tony stole a sip from Pepper's glass before running off to clean up. Tony took his time in the shower, relaxing under the hot water for a few extra minutes before getting out. He fixed his hair and trimmed his beard, finding it had grown out quite a bit due to negligence. He opted to change into a pair of jeans and a dark blue Rush t-shirt.

He left his room and started to head back to where Thor and Pepper were. He paused when he saw that Loki's door was open. Unable to resist the temptation Tony peeked his head into the dark room, spotting Loki standing in front of the window. His blanket was discarded on the floor at his feet as he rested his arms on the windowsill. The massive window covered the entire upper-half of the wall, stretching from one end to the other.

Loki was standing there, watching the sun glint off the windows of the other buildings and the birds that glided around the sky on invisible currents of air. Tony felt his heart sink slightly in his chest, watching Loki lower his chin to rest on his arms. Loki lifted a pale, miniscule hand and ran his fingers over the glass. Tony nearly jumped out of the skin when Loki spoke.

"How long until I forget you?" Loki asked, seemingly to the sky, his voice cracking ever so slightly. "How long until I can no longer become you?"

Stark watched Loki's hand ball into a fist and trail down the glass, his head dropping so his forehead rested on his arms. Loki's shoulders shook and Tony was almost sure he was crying. Stark knew he shouldn't be there, something about this was too intimate to be seen, he turned on his heel and moved away as quietly as he could. Tony once again stopped in the doorway to the living room, but this time for a reason. Pepper and Thor were laughing at the television, watching some show Tony didn't recognize. The scene that was playing made Tony smile and turn on his heel again, heading for the elevator.

"Jarvis." Tony said as he stepped inside, the AI's ghostly voice replying right away.

"Yes sir?"

"Ask Loki to head up to the 45th floor. Oh, and to bring a pair of socks."

"Tube or ankle socks?" The AI asked teasingly.

"Don't care!" Tony chuckled back. When he reached his destination Tony stepped out onto one of his more private floors. Jarvis was actually designed to refuse access to anyone trying to access the floor without Tony's permission. Stepping onto the floor, one was greeted with a small room with carpeted floors and a wide, open doorway that led to a redwood floored hallway. There were only three doors in the hallway, one on each side and one at the end. The one on the end was a massive personal bathroom with a large, hot-tub style bath and every kind of personal care product a man could ever need.

The door on the left led to a massive single room with a giant entertainment station on one side and a bar with every kind of alcohol known to man on the other. A massive balcony offered a great view while enjoying a drink. The door on the right however was an advanced training room with a lavish bedroom and closet attached on the far side. Tony grinned like a madman and went to the bar for a quick, but strong, drink before returning to the entrance room, just in time for the elevator to open, revealing a tired-looking Loki. His eyes were slightly red around the edges, a pair of black socks were in his hand as he stared up, unamused, at Tony.

"You have your socks, good!" Tony said, way too cheerfully. "Put 'em on already!"

Loki gave him an incredulous stare but slipped them on anyway. He then crossed his arms and waited.

"Ease up Frostbite, I'm drunk as shit and I saw something childish and immature on tv that might cheer you up!"

"And this would be?"

"This!" Tony exclaimed, jumping so he was right in front of the elevator, turning to face the hallway and bolting. The moment he reached the hardwood floor he stopped and slid several feet. Tony looked back at Loki with a childish grin.

"Come on! Give it a try!"

Loki smiled and chased after Tony, copying him when he reached the hardwood floor and sliding down the hall, laughing when he passed the larger man.

"Bet I can go farther than you!" Tony yelled, running back to the start, instantly followed by Loki. They both slid and slipped on the floor over and over, trying to one-up each other each time. Eventually Loki asked if there was any way they could slide all the way to the end and Tony declared that he would 'find a way or break a leg trying'! At first they tried using water to make the wood a bit slicker, they both just ended up falling on their butts. Then came the ice, that ended up just killing their feet and making their falls that much worse.

Last was their best and worst idea. Shampoo. They lathered the entire floor with nearly twelve whole bottles of different kinds of shampoo. They lathered it across the floor with their feet so it covered it completely before moving back to the start. They ended up making it all the way to the end, Tony went so fast that he slammed into the bathroom door the first time. The bad part was that by the time they were both too tired to continue, they were covered head-to-toe in white foam. The hallway floor and walls were not much better.

"I think we made a mess..." Loki muttered, more to himself than to Tony.

"I think my give-a-fuck is broken." Tony laughed, wading through the foam to get back to the bathroom. "I'll have a cleaning crew come fix it later, for now I think WE should clean up before anyone sees us."

Loki nodded in agreement and followed right behind. They stripped off their shirts and socks and fished out new ones from the closet in the other room. They both ended up in matching, red wife-beaters with 'I'll Drink You Bitches Under The Table' printed across the front. Tony helped Loki get as much of the suds out of his hair as he could before scrubbing down his own head.

When they were both as clean as they were gonna get they carefully tip-toed through the foam and back down the hall to the elevator. As they descended back to where Thor and Pepper had been they both agreed to not tell anyone about what they had done, except Pepper, because she would most certainly find out. They snuck past the kitchen and peered inside the living room, finding it empty.

"Borderlands?" Tony asked, both of them grinning and racing into the room to jump onto the couch. They started up the game and quickly got back into their groove, Tony of course took player one again. Eventually they started getting so high in level that they would be five levels above the mission requirements. At times they would even split up and do different things in a single area, only sticking together if the other needed the help.

By level 26 both of them had a reached the end of one of their skill trees and were a force to be reckoned with. They rarely actually died, always had the best guns available, and had spammed a few of the bosses and areas so much that they had every kind of upgrade possible. By the time Thor and Steve walked in they were running around with nothing equipped, melee-ing everything in sight.

"What are you doing?" Rogers asked with a chuckle.

"Punching marauders and Bullymongs."

"Isn't this a shooting game?"

"Yeah, but we're so over-leveled that we're practically one-hit killing everything anyway."

"I thought Loki was grounded?" Thor said, crossing his arms and frowning.

"Well, um..." Tony started, blinking and looking down at Loki for a moment before looking back up at Thor with a guilty smile and a shrug. "I'm having too much fun to give a shit."

Thor rolled his eyes and took a seat in the armchair close to Loki. Tony didn't even blink when Loki climbed over his lap to sit on his other side, away from Thor. The thunderer looked hurt, but tried to hide it, paying more attention to the game than his adopted brother. Steve however stayed standing, watching the game while obviously waiting for something.

"What're you waiting for?" Stark asked when he couldn't stand it any longer.

"Clint and Natasha, we're all going out for dinner and the theater."

"Banner or Pepper going with you?"

"Bruce is meeting us downstairs. As for Ms. Potts, not that I know of, why?"

"No reason, just curious."

They were quiet for a few minutes when Clint and Natasha stepped in, both dressed well, but rather casually.

"Ready?" Natasha asked, earning nods from Thor and Steve. "Good, Tony?"

Tony paused and glanced back.

"Do you and Loki want to go with us?"

"Nah, we're good, we're trying to find the Creeper easter egg."

"Alright...have a good night then okay?"

"Always do."

When the others had stepped far enough away, Tony leaned down and whispered just loud enough for Loki to hear.

"Next time we'll play upstairs on the big screen."

Loki just smiled and gave a small nod before they returned to their game. About an hour after the group had left Pepper reappeared and declared the TV was hers. Tony and Loki both surrender and moved aside to let her sit, watching her pull out a movie.

"What's that?" Loki asked, trying to read the cover.

"Well, everyone else went out to see a movie, so I thought we could watch one together."

"Oh?" Tony mused with a smirk. "And what are we watching, oh Mistress of Movies?"

Pepper gave a playful pout and punched Tony in the arm.

"We're watching Megamind."

"Megamind?" Loki asked raising a confused brow. Tony however looked quite happy with this.

"Good choice! Pop it in!" Tony cheered, settling into the couch for only a second before deciding to get a bowl of popcorn and some soda first. Pepper took her seat and waited for Tony to come back for asking Jarvis to shut off the lights and play the movie. Loki and Tony ended up sitting on opposite sides of Pepper, the popcorn finding a place on her lap. As the movie went on all three of them settled in and enjoyed themselves.

They all seemed sad when it was over however and Pepper ended up hunting down two more movies from the internet. One was How To Train Your Dragon and the other was The Lion King. At first Tony wanted to watch Despicable Me, but when Pepper mentioned disney movies and Loki had said he knew nothing about them, Tony demanded that they watch The Lion King. By the end Loki and Tony had both passed out and Pepper was stuck between them as a human pillow. She somehow slipped her way out without waking them up and eased them down so they were laying against each other instead.

Pepper shut down everything and cleaned up before fetching a blanket and covering the boys up. When she stepped out into the hall she was greeted by the others returning from their night out. She motioned for them to be quiet and shooed everyone towards the kitchen, where she ended up telling them about her night in exchange for how theirs went. Loki and Tony however slept on until morning.

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**As I warned in the beginning, this is the last 'easygoing' chapter, so I hope you enjoyed it. I'm almost done with Chapter 8, so keep your eyes out for it.**

**By now you guys should know the routine :P So lemme know what you thought and I'll see you next chapter.**


	8. Assult at Home

**To Amy- It's awesome to read your reviews, they always make me smile. X3  
**

**To Eversotd- Same! Megamind and the Lion King both seemed like movies Loki needed to watch. *Nodnod*  
**

**To RedLink101- Happyhappyhappy! I'm glad you like it! I promise I'll try not to disappoint.  
**

**Also! (Totally forgot about this) I have a DeviantArt account (by this same username) and a ton of art-stuffs for this story. Would anyone actually want to see if if I posted it? (I'm not the best artist so I'm not gonna bother putting stuff up if no one wants to see.)  
**

**Anyway, enjoy chapter nine!  
**

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When Tony woke up he found he was laying on his back, on the couch in the living room. He blinked a few times and glanced down when he realized there was something heavy on his chest. Stark was greeted with a tousled mop of black hair and a low purring sound. Tony instantly realized Loki was sleeping on top of him, a thick blanket pulled up over the both of them. For some reason, it just now sunk in how small Loki was.

Despite how heavy he was, Loki was still incredibly thin and lanky with an angular face and small, delicate hands. Never mind that those hands could crush a human skull like it was made of tinfoil. Loki was also fairly short, standing just above Tony's elbows, seeing that Tony was not exactly tall himself made it that much worse. Stark realized how much Loki had changed, going from a tall, handsome god with powers beyond imagination...now...he was just a small, injured child, locked in a tower, and surrounded by old enemies...and his 'not' brother.

Tony gave a sad sigh and pulled the blanket up to cover Loki's shoulders, leaning back and closing his eyes again. Tony felt something eating at his stomach as he laid there, his hand set as gently as he could on Loki's back. The ends of Loki's hair trailed down so far that Tony could feel them tickling his fingers. Tony was so distracted by his own thoughts that he flinched when Loki shifted, nuzzling Tony's chest and moving his hands up to rest under his head.

At this point Tony didn't quite know what to do. Tons of things were rolling around in his head as he sat there. He was thinking way too much for so early. This was why Tony wasn't fond of mornings, they made him think when he didn't want to. His mind was on a roll at the moment, questioning Loki's behavior towards him over the others and even his own behavior towards Loki. Why was he so easygoing with Loki? Loki had been their enemy, he had attacked their home. Their world. He had even thrown Tony out his own window.

Why couldn't Tony bring himself to hate him? Stark knew he couldn't answer that himself, there was something about Loki that made him want to take care of him. To protect him and keep him happy. Whenever Loki smiled it made everything else better. Tony could feel a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth just thinking about it. Had he really become a father figure to Loki? What did Loki really think of him? Did he even care or was he just putting on a show to protect himself?

"Gah, I'm thinking too much for this early in the morning." Tony said aloud, sitting up, but keeping his hand on Loki's back to keep him from falling backward. Loki's eyes fluttered open, but quickly re-closed when Tony cooed him back to sleep. Tony moved Loki's arms up around his neck and the blanket around Loki's small frame. He then stood, shifting Loki onto his hip as he got up, making sure to take it slow so he wouldn't wake him up just yet.

Tony made his way slowly to the kitchen, nodding to Natasha in greeting as he passed her in the hallway. When he reached the kitchen he set about making a pot of coffee and some eggs for him and Loki. When he heard the door open Tony glanced back over his shoulder and gave a small wave over Loki's shoulder when he saw Clint and Bruce.

"Morning boys." Tony said, keeping his voice low. Both men seemed slightly confused by the sight of Tony cooking breakfast with Loki on his hip.

"Morning? What's up?" Clint asked, moving over to the counter and leaning his elbows on it.

"Not much, just woke up. I'm making eggs for me and the kid, want some?"

"Sure?" Clint said, still sounding a bit confused.

"You too, Goliath?" Tony asked, looking back at Bruce, who gave a very slight nod. Tony went back to making breakfast as the others took a seat at the table. Eventually Loki muttered something and lifted his head, blinking and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Morning kiddo." Tony cooed, offering a warm smile.

"Mm...Morning," Loki muttered. "...down."

Tony smiled and lowered Loki to the floor, watching him wrap up in the blanket and move over to the table, mumbling a 'morning' to Clint and Bruce as he sat down. Tony finished making breakfast and loaded up four plates full of food, three cups of coffee, and a glass of milk. Once everyone was set Tony sat down and picked up his fork, just in time for a red light to pop out of the ceiling and start flashing silently.

"Shit," Tony muttered, standing with Clint and Canner. "Jarvis, what's going on?"

"There are intruders on the roof sir. Two men with strange weapons it seems."

"Initiate lockdown."

"Already in progress sir." Jarvis replied as the widows were covered by steel shutters.

"Where are the others located?" Tony asked, striding over to a seemingly empty wall and pressing a hidden panel.

"Mr. Odinson and Ms. Romanoff are not in the building. Mr. Rogers is in the upper training hall."

"Alright." Tony said as the panel slid open, revealing one of his many Ironman suits and a few of Hawkeye's spare bows and quivers. Clint moved over and grab a bow and quiver while Tony suited up, still speaking to Jarvis.

"Call and let Thor and Nat know the situation and to keep their eyes open just in case. Tell Cap to grab his shield and get his ass down here."

"...Done sir."

Loki seemed rather at a loss, standing by Banner as they waited for something to happen. Stark and Hawkeye waited for a moment, ready for a fight when the door opened. Tony and Clint took aim, but lowered their weapons when they saw it was Steve. Steve stepped inside and closed the door, asking what was going on and quickly being filled in. A loud explosion shook the building.

"I think our boys are making their way down." Clint growled, nocking an arrow and readying himself. Another explosion and Steve and Tony took their stances.

Another explosion went off, sounding like it was right above them. Loki felt his heart jump into his throat and he grabbed ahold of Banner's pant-leg. Bruce blinked and glanced down, Loki's bright eyes practically glowed in the red-lighted room. Tony glanced back and waved a hand at them.

"Get back you two, I don't want you hulking out. I just had this floor redone."

"With the sounds from those explosions, I think you'll be redoing more than just this floor." Bruce muttered, moving back behind the table with Loki. Another explosion, this one almost deafening, and Loki's grip on Banner's leg tightened. Two minutes went by in total quiet, no explosions, no footsteps, not even a creak of floorboards. The ceiling suddenly burst apart, causing everyone to scatter and duck for cover. Except Rogers, who just ducked behind his shield, and Tony, whose armor protected him.

Tony's armor was not, however, able to keep him in place when a beam of energy blasted down and struck him in the shoulder, sending him flying back into the wall. Hawkeye used the beam to pinpoint where the shooter was and let loose an arrow, hearing a small ding and a crack. His arrow had hit, but it had snapped in half. Hawkeye had to dodge and roll when another blast shot out from the hole, at him this time.

Two more shots came, one towards Rogers, who blocked it with his shield, and one towards Loki and Bruce, who had to duck and dive out of the way. While the dust was still in the air the two men dropped from the hole, both dressed in, slightly ridiculous looking, exo-suits. The larger man was in a red suit with grey plating and a grey helmet with a single red horn jutting from his forehead. The smaller man was in a blue suit with white accents, two protrusions on his back gave him the failed appearance of wings.

The blue one spotted Bruce getting back to his feet and quickly took aim and fired at him, hitting him in the neck with a dart. Banner grabbed the dart and yanked it out, but was too slow. His eyes rolled back and he fell back to the ground, out cold. Steve charged forward, smashing his shield into the larger man's chest and ramming him backwards into the wall. The smaller one whipped around and was blasted in the back by Tony, who had just finished pulling himself out of the hole in the wall.

"As much as I like being attacked in my own tower," Tony said, brushing the debris off his shoulder. "would you boys care to explain what made you think attacking Stark-Fucking-Tower was a good idea?"

Instead of responding the larger man blasted Steve back with his horn and jumped back to his feet, yelling at them like an enraged animal. Just before an arrow struck him in the face and exploded. Hawkeye fired two more arrows from his hiding place in the room, striking the smaller attacker in the chest and the larger one in the face again. Both of the attackers began to laugh.

"That all you got chicken boy?" The smaller one chuckled.

"Hey!" Tony yelled, holding his hands up to take aim at the men. "Only I can pick on Hawkeye!"

When Tony fired the men didn't even flinch, smiling when the beams reflected off a force field and back towards Ironman. Blocking with his arm, Ironman took the brunt of the blast and shook it off.

"Well, you boys are well prepared." He muttered, earning cocky smiles from the pair.

"You have no idea 'Ironman'." The larger man growled. The smaller one noticed Rogers was back on his feet and stalked around his partner to face him.

"Bring it 'Captain'." He growled, edging closer to Steve. Steve fixed his stance and stood his ground, glaring over his shield.

"Who are you?" He asked in his usual, demanding way. "What do you want?"

"Heh, I'm Killer Shrike," The smaller one said with a certain cockiness before motioning over his shoulder to his partner. "and this is Unicorn. Our boss wants you boys out of the picture."

"And your boss is~?" Tony asked, rolling his hands in the way of asking them to continue.

"No one you need to worry about." Shrike chuckled.

"Worry about yourselves first!" Unicorn growled, shooting a blast from his horn at Ironman. Stark brought up his hands and countered the blast with his own. At that moment was when all hell broke loose. Shrike and Cap were suddenly going toe-to-toe, while Unicorn and Ironman went at it with lasers. Shrike was fast and strong, with energy daggers on his wrists that doubled as blasters. No matter how hard Cap hit him, when he could, Shrike seemed to just brush it off and hit him back twice as hard.

Unicorn on the other hand was all brute strength, blasting Ironman back as he stepped closer. The moment he was within range, Unicorn punched Stark in the jaw, denting the metal along the jaw. Ironman quickly fought back, using his own speed to keep from getting hit and to try and find a weak point in Unicorn's suit. No luck, that was until Hawkeye popped out of nowhere. Driving a rather nasty looking arrow deep into Unicorn's shoulder with his bare hands.

Unicorn snarled and spun around, backhanding Hawkeye into stumbling before grabbing him by the throat. Hawkeye had an arrow drawn and ready to aim right at Unicorn's face when he was hit with a jolt of electricity. It took only two-point-six seconds before Hawkeye was out cold, a horrific looking burn marred his throat as he dropped to the ground.

"Hawkeye!" Steve yelled, smashing his shield across Shrike's face so he could charge at Unicorn. Tony seemed to like the idea of switching and shot at Shrike to stop him from going after Cap. Shrike frowned, but attacked nonetheless. Once again chaos ensued, the close-quarters resulting in mostly hand-to-hand combat. This worked in the Avenger's favor at first, but once again that went to hell.

Unicorn knocked Steve's shield aside just long enough to slam his palm against Steve's chest. A jolt of electricity ran it's course and Rogers dropped to one knee, gasping in pain before glaring up at his attacker. Steve forced himself up and tried to attack Unicorn again, only to have Unicorn dodge and strike him in the back. This time the jolt was stronger and dropped Steve to the ground. Unicorn laughed when Steve tried fruitlessly to get back up.

Ironman glanced back just in time to witness Unicorn electrocuting Captain America into unconsciousness. When he redirected his attention to Shrike he was struck in the chest with one of Shrike's energy daggers. It thankfully didn't break through the armor and only caused a small dent.

"Hey Jarvis?" Tony called to his suit, sounding a little more worried by the minute. "Think you could call Fury-?!"

Tony let out a cry of pain when Unicorn bashed him in the side of the head, throwing him into the wall. Tony groaned and called for Jarvis again.

"I wouldn't bother Ironman," Unicorn chuckled. "we shut down your little computer the moment we blew a hole in the ceiling. It was a nice distraction wasn't it?"

Tony cursed himself for not noticing earlier, he hadn't even noticed that Jarvis hadn't been informing him during the battle. Shrike stepped closer and lifted a hand, his blaster glowing with energy. Tony tried to move and found his suit wasn't cooperating, his energy readings were dropping to dangerous level. Shrike and Unicorn both gave disturbing smiles. Tony tilted his head to look down, now noticing the small device that had dug into his suit, settled in the middle of the dent Shrike had made.

"How do you like our boss's tech, Stark?" Unicorn asked. "Despite its size, that thing has the strength to drain any power-source in the world dry."

"Don't worry, Stark," Shrike hissed, lifting his blaster and aiming at Tony's head. "I'll make it quick."

"No!" Loki yelled, appearing from nowhere and tackling Shrike to the ground, only to have the man roll and kick him off.

"Who the hell-?" Shrike started to say, standing up and wheeling his head back towards his partner. "They didn't say anything about a fifth!"

"Who cares?" Unicorn growled, crossing his arms in boredom. "It's just a kid. Tranq. him and let's finish this."

Shrike spun back to face Loki and let out a grunt of surprise when Loki appeared in front of him, grabbing both of his wrists and twisting them backwards. The metal that had protected Shrike was now twisting and cracking around his arm. Shrike let out a cry of pain and tried to wrench his arms free of Loki's iron grip. Loki just snarled and yanked Shrike forward, straightening one of his arms before snapping it in half at the elbow, metal slicing through flesh and bone.

The sound of pain that escaped Shrike's throat was gut-wrenching. It became that much worse when Loki grabbed Shrike's wounded arm and used it to toss him over his shoulder and at Unicorn. Unicorn seemed surprised, but ducked under Shrike and took aim at Loki.

"Who the hell are you?" Unicorn growled, earning an equally angry snarl from the boy. Unicorn's horn lit up and a blast of energy shot out, missing Loki when he tilted his head to the side. Loki once again moved with his frightening speed, dodging the horn blasts and moving in front of unicorn.

Loki slammed his foot into Unicorn's stomach, making him double over just enough for Loki to grab the sides of his head. Tony flinched when Loki brought his head back and slammed their foreheads together, not once, but twice, before he let go. Unicorn let out a moan before collapsing to the ground, the front of his helmet was busted and cracked, blood leaking down his face. A small cut on Loki's forehead leaked blood down his face, making him look that more fearsome when he grabbed Unicorn's horn.

With a loud crack Loki kicked Unicorn in the face, snapping the horn off as he went. Unicorn was on his back, trying to get back up when Loki buried the horn deep into his shoulder, giving it a good twist for good measure. Loki yanked the horn back out and brought it back, taking aim between Unicorn's eyes. Tony would have yelled for him to stop if Loki hadn't taken a blast to the chest. Shrike was back on his feet, moving over and quickly getting Unicorn up before glaring over at Tony.

"You got lucky Ironman!" He yelled, moving quickly as Loki got back to his feet. The protrusions on Shrike's back folded out and he lifted into the air, grabbing Unicorn with his good arm and taking off through the hole they had came through. Loki snarled after them and waited until they were out of sight before dropping the horn and running to Tony's side. Loki wasted no time in wrapping his small hand around the device embedded in his suit and ripping it out.

Slowly, but surely, energy started to flow back into Tony's suit just enough for him to stand and pull off his helmet. Nothing was said as Tony ditched his suit and helped Loki wake the others. Bruce and Steve were the easiest, a quick shake woke both of them, though they seemed embarrassed and weak. Hawkeye however took some effort before he finally woke up, groaning in pain and flinching when he tried to move his head in any way. Banner took Clint to the infirmary while Steve called Fury to let him know what had happened. Tony however sat down on the two remaining chairs with Loki.

"Thanks for saving us Loki." Tony said after a minute. "You really kicked their asses."

Loki just shook his head.

"No, I only beat them because they were tired and I had the element of surprise..."

"Yeah...they seemed to know quite a bit about the group."

"More than a 'bit', Anthony."

"Okay okay, a shit-ton." Tony said, throwing his hands up in surrender. "Still, they didn't know anything about you."

"So?"

"So, that means whoever their 'boss' is, only knows about the group because of the whole Chitauri incident."

"...Then what could make them want you all 'out of the way'?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out. Always do." Tony said, offering a cocky smile. Loki just rolled his eyes and both of them stood, wincing at the bruises already forming.

"I'm not sure about you," Tony said, rolling his shoulder and rubbing the pain out of his jaw. "but I'm getting really sick of the infirmary."

Loki said nothing but smiled and nodded as they headed out the door and to the elevator. Banner was going to be very busy patching everyone up. Especially when Thor and Natasha returned, battered and bruised from their own attacks, twenty minutes later.

* * *

**Uh-oh, Tony's starting to question Loki's motives. But look! A sweet little bonding momen-Damn it Shrike! What did I tell you about playing with Unicorn?!  
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**Sorry, I'm a dork. ^^  
**

**By now you guys should know the routine, if you don't then you're obviously new here. :)**

**Lemme know what you guys liked or didn't and who you guys think Shrike and Unicorn's Boss is, I'd love to see how many of you guess right. **

**See you next chapter!**


	9. Shielded

**To Katie: Aw~ Thank you :3 and Unicorn and Shrike are not mine (I would never have named that that if they were) I borrowed them from the animated Iron Man series...yes, I'm a looser and have watched most of the episodes.**

**To everyone else: Glad you enjoyed it ^^ and you'll have to wait and see~ muahaha!  
**

**Haha! I wanted to get this done before I reached 7,000 views! I'm at 6,986 at this exact moment! *Happy dance* Thank you all for faving, following, and reviewing! It totally makes my day!  
**

**Anywho! Enjoy the next chapter, I actually planned to make this a little less calm, but I figured I'll save all the fun stuff for chapter ten. ^^  
**

* * *

When Fury came in Loki and Stark were both sitting in computer chairs, trying to out-spin each other. Both of them were smiling and laughing like maniacs. Tony's shirt was missing and he had bandages around his ribs and a patch on his right cheek, while Loki only had an extra, square band-aid on his forehead. The rest of the group was standing to the side, all patched up as well, watching the two with wide grins. When they spotted Fury, Tony and Loki both ground their feet into the floor and grinded to a halt. Both looked like children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Fury ignored them and looked over at Rogers, his glare piercing.

"What happened?" Fury asked, earning an embarrassed or irritated look from the group.

"We were all attacked, sir." Rogers replied.

"I got that, what happened? How did they beat you all this badly?"

"They knew all about us." Tony muttered. "The two men that attacked the tower were well equipped and knew quite a bit about how we fight. They even knocked out Bruce before he could hulk-up. Someone went through a lot of work to study the team just to try and take us out."

"What did you two deal with?" Bruce asked, glancing in Natasha and Thor's direction.

"A metal man," Thor said, looking rather irritated. "much like our Man of Iron, but there was no person inside and it was much larger. It used my own lightning against me."

"That would explain why your hair looks like someone rubbed a balloon against your head." Tony said, earning a small giggle from Loki.

"It said I was imperfect and in the way," Thor continued. "it demanded that I return to Asgard with haste."

"What about you Nat?" Clint asked, his voice rough from having his throat burned.

"Sniper," She said, brushing her hair out of her face. "took a shot at me while I was walking about, he missed the first shot. I shot back and knocked him off the roof. He was a machine, like Thor's, but small and thin. I fought the thing for a while, but it was too strong. It knew how to counter everything I did. Fury showed up in time to blast the thing to pieces and save my ass."

"You two fought robots?" Loki asked, drawing everyone's attention, a quizzical look on his thin face. "Why would they send machines after you, but two men after them?" Loki mused, motioning towards Tony and the other three men.

"Kid has a point, but" Stark said, crossing his arms and flinching when his ribs barked at him. "are we sure they were human?"

"They were human," Loki said, swinging his legs since he was too shot to reach the floor. "I could smell the blood and feel the give of bone when I attacked them. They were not mechanical in any way other than their armor."

Everyone paused, staring at Loki's 'this is an everyday thing' face with wide eyes. Loki frowned and hunched his shoulders.

"What? You cannot tell me you have not all learned the smell of blood nor the feeling of a man's bones snapping beneath your grasp."

"A~nd I think it's time you go clean up." Tony said, standing up and shooing Loki away towards the door. "Go take a shower, we'll be right up once we straighten some things out."

Loki didn't protest, he just rolled his eyes and left the room. Loki didn't really care either way, it was one of the bonuses that came with being a 'child', the adults took care of all the menial tasks. As he walked down the hall Loki could hear Fury's voice booming, he was obviously pissed. It brought a smile to Loki's face.

Loki went to the elevator, the working one, and took it up to the floor where his room was. It was on the same floor as the kitchen where the fight had taken place. He stepped out and blinked when he saw men moving around, repairing the damage that the battle had caused. One man took notice of Loki and walked over.

"I'm sorry kid, but the Director doesn't want anyone on this floor until we've finished-"

Loki scoffed and moved past him, ignoring his protests and going to his room. Loki shut his door and snapped the lock in place to stop anyone from following him. He walked to the bathroom and quickly stripped down, removing the bandages that covered his wounds and grimacing when he spotted them in the mirror. They weren't as bad as when he had first gotten them, but they still looked less than stellar.

Loki refused to worry about it and climbed into the shower. He spent a good twenty minutes under the hot water, the stream burning and soothing his cuts at the same time. When he was done he reached out to shut the water off and froze. His hand slowly turned the knob, not off, but to the cold side. The water instantly was like ice. Loki kept his hand on the knob, watching his skin slowly turn a solid, sapphire blue. He frowned and he looked his skin over, watching some of the water actually freezing on his skin.

Loki jumped out of his skin when he heard a knock on his bedroom door and Natasha's voice calling to him. He quickly turned the water back to full-blasting heat and called back, saying he'd be out in a minute. The hot water burned, but it quickly melted the ice on his skin and changed him back to his pale, peach-colored self. He then quickly grabbed a clean set of clothes and ran a hand through his hair to settle its wild style.

When he had his grey slacks and dark green sweeter on Loki wrapped his scarf around his neck and opened his door. Natasha was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. She seemed to perk up, like a dog did when it's owner returned from a trip. She motioned for the little god to follow her. Loki trailed along behind, following her into the elevator.

"Fury is moving everyone out of the tower for a few days," She said, sounding completely unemotional. "at least until the tower is repaired and secured."

"Might I ask to where?"

"I don't know."

"Of course you don't." Loki muttered, giving an involuntary shiver. They got off at the bottom floor and Loki paused inside the elevator.

"I don't have my shoes." Loki said, frowning when Natasha told him to come anyway. They stepped through the front door to see the SHIELD jet sitting in the middle of the street. The street had been blocked off, keeping it clear of cars and people. Loki suddenly felt very nervous, spotting several armored men standing around the area, but not hide nor hair of Tony or Thor.

Loki quickly calmed his expression, hiding it behind his practiced face of indifference. He followed Natasha towards the jet, its engines still roaring. Loki's bare feet padded quietly across the ground, the tink they made when he stepped onto the ramp gave Loki the chills. Loki felt his heart calm when he heard Tony arguing with someone.

"Fuck no, I'm not going anywhere without-" Tony paused when Loki and Nat stepped into view, his dying sentence escaping as a relieved sigh. Tony now had a nice black jacket and slacks on over a grey t-shirt. Loki moved over to him and Tony gave his arm a slight tap with his knuckle in a silent greeting. They gave each other quick smiles before they fell away and turned to the others. Thor and Bruce walked onto the jet with grim looks, Clint and Steve were already situated further into the vehicle.

"Are we ready to-where are your shoes?" Thor asked, looking down at Loki's feet. Tony looked down and frowned, giving Nat a very unimpressed glare.

"Hm...I'll be right back." Tony grumbled, going to head back inside. Nat grabbed his arm and told him they needed to leave, but Tony pulled free and growled something at her that the others couldn't hear. Natasha frowned and shrunk back, letting Stark past, watching him job back into the building. Everyone stood quietly for a minute, Loki shifting on his feet to keep the blood flowing, the steel floor made them rather cold.

After a few minutes Tony came running back out with Loki's shoes and a pair of socks. He walked up the ramp, past everyone, and handed the items to Loki, who accepted them gratefully. As Loki put his shoes on everyone else took their seats and Nat closed the door. Loki rushed over and hopped up next to Tony, not caring that he was between him and Thor. As the jet took off Loki settled in, feeling rather calm now that the two men were next to him. Loki strained his ears to listen to Steve, Clint, and Natasha when he heard them talking near the front.

"Are we really taking him to SHIELD?" Clint asked.

"Yes, Fury wants us all there in case anything happens." Nat replied. "He has to come with if we don't want Tony to pitch a hissy."

"Are we sure we can trust him?" Steve asked, lowering his voice.

"No, but...Fury...locked up...take any chances." Natasha's voice was too quite for Loki to hear more than every few words, but what he did hear made him uneasy. He sat quietly however, pretending to pay more attention to the ceiling than to anything else. Tony nudged him with his elbow, leaning slightly closer and practically whispering.

"You okay, Riddles?"

"Just fine, Anthony. Are you?"

"Yeah...don't worry, they're not gonna lock you up, not with me around."

"I'm not worried." Loki lied, sitting back in his seat and tugging on his scarf to loosen it. Tony pressed his mouth into a thin line, but said no more, looking away towards where Bruce was sitting. The rest of the ride was quiet, taking a good hour to reach their destination. They exited the jet and stepped out into a large hanger with several other jets and helicopters. There were no windows to be seen and the large door they must have come in through was shut tight. Natasha led the group through the facility, a group of armored men following them, obviously to keep Loki from disappearing.

Nat led them to a large metal door and pressed her hand to the scanner on the side. A ding sounded and the door slid open, revealing a room half the size of a football field. It consisted of a kitchen to the left, a recreational area to the right, a training area in the far right corner, and reading area with several book cases and chairs in the far left corner. At the very back wall was two doors, one was metal while the other was just a plain door. Two plain doors sat on each side of the room, name plates on each.

Loki's keen eyes spotted his name and Stark's on the left and Banner's and Thor's on the right. While Loki, Tony, Thor, and Bruce all stepped inside, Clint, Nat, and Rogers remained outside the steel door. Natasha spoke in a stern tone, catching their attention.

"This will be your temporary quarters for a few days, you'll find everything you'll need in your rooms."

"What about you three?" Tony asked, suddenly sounding rather pissed.

"Fury has us investigating the attack...he doesn't have the time or men to watch over you all so you'll be guests here for the time being." Steve replied, rubbing the back of his neck guiltily.

"The doors at the back lead to a bathroom and a laboratory. Stark and Banner will be the only ones with access to the lab." Natasha finished, looking away before glancing back. "Please try to relax while you're here."

With that the door closed and Tony let out an angry grunt. He sounded like a wild boar ready to charge as he moved towards the kitchen, fuming as he hunted for some form of alcohol. He actually found a bottle of whiskey in the cupboard next to three shot glasses.

"Would you look at that," Tony fumed. "a peace offering."

"I guess Fury didn't want you blowing a hole in his base." Banner chuckled halfheartedly. The others dissipated around the room, Banner moved over to check out the books while Thor went to sit in the rec. area. Loki however trailed over to the door with his name on it, opening the door and peering inside. A shiver ran down Loki's spine. It was identical to his room back at Stark tower, all the way down to how he had left his bed and the shirt and pants he had left by the bathroom door. Even the window was there, the curtains were pulled back to reveal the same view he had had at the tower, though it showed a mid-day scene even though it was almost eight at night. Loki shivered again and closed the door, walking over to join Tony in the kitchen.

"This blows," Tony muttered, downing what was most likely his fifth shot. "they might as well have locked us up-"

"No," Loki said, cutting Tony off with a set glare. "We may be forced to remain here, but it is only so much different than what we had before. This is rather pleasant compared to what it could be..."

"...Yeah, guess you're right." Stark muttered, his glass held to his lips as he thought. "Guess we'll have to find ways to entertain ourselves."

"We did so before." Loki said, offering a smile.

"Yep, come on." Tony chirped, his mood suddenly much brighter. He put away the bottle and his glass and walked towards his room, Loki right behind. Tony threw open his door and scoffed.

"Of course, looks identical to my one at home." Tony chuckled, glancing down at Loki. "They do the same for you?"

Loki nodded and Tony muttered something about Fury being 'one hell of a creeper' before walking inside. Loki almost stayed in the doorway, but Tony motioned for him to follow once more. Tony walked over to the window behind his bed a pressed a button on the side, the midday scene turning to black. He then shut off the lights and moved over to where a rather large and complex computer system sat. Loki came over and stood next to him as Stark turned the system on and went to work on the magnificent, floating, holographic screen.

Tony started up a program and moved aside, telling Loki to sit and start up a new game. Loki did as he was told and waited while Tony disappeared back into the main room. Loki lifted his hands up over the holographic keyboard and mousepad and waited. The screen was dark, fading in to a tunnel-like area with white text across the front. It explained 'how to get the best possible experience', including 'not playing to win', 'focusing on immersing oneself in the game's world and story', and to 'not try to fight, instead use wits, hide, or even run'. When Loki was about to adjust the lighting Tony returned with a chair for him to sit in.

"Turn the light all the way up." He said without missing a beat as he set his chair up.

"But it says to-"

"Trust me," Tony said, looking dead serious. "turn it up."

Loki did as Tony said and clicked continue, he followed Stark's instructions in making a new profile and starting a new game. The title appeared, Amnesia the Dark Descent, and Loki muttered something about irony. As the game loaded Tony quickly turned the sound up so they could hear every creak and moan of the game. Tony then sat back as a man started to speak, stumbling around in first person and speaking to himself. He spoke of forgetting, a shadow, his name, Daniel, and about stopping someone. The screen went dark before fading back into light.

When his character was standing and Loki had gained control, Tony went about teaching how to play and use the controls. Loki had the hang of it in no time and seemed much less frightened by the game than Tony. Every time something would startle them, creak, moan, growl, speak, or scream, Tony would jump or yelp, while Loki only seemed to stiffen and inhale a sharp breath. When Loki got the lantern Tony was ecstatic, he was not however very happy with the fact that Loki barely ever used it or any of his tinderboxes.

When they found the note from Daniel to himself Loki was quiet, quickly skipping through it and moving on without comment. They played for quite a while, playing all the way up to the Cellar Archives, where the invisible water monster was. By that point Tony suggested they be done, while Loki just ignored his and pushed on.

Though it may have been a little twisted, Loki actually giggled when he threw the body parts into the water to distract the monster. When they reached the Back Hall, standing in front of the disturbing, baby-head fountain was when Loki finally paused. Sighing and leaning back in his seat to stretch out his back. Tony rubbed his own shoulder and sat back in his chair.

"You done for tonight?"

"Yeah, but I would like to continue this again tomorrow, this game is very...interesting."

"It's fun isn't it?" Tony laughed, earning a small nod as Loki saved and quit and stood. Tony shut down the computer and walked Loki to the door, Tony opened it and saw that the room was dark and Bruce and Thor were both gone, most likely having gone to bed. Loki muttered a 'good night' and stalked off to his room. Tony said a quick 'night' and shut his door, changing into sweatpants before flopping down on his bed for the night.

Loki did almost the exact same thing, only he left his shirt on and climbed into bed, under the covers, giving a quiet sniffle and a shiver before drifting off to sleep. Loki slept soundly, purring loudly all through the night. Tony did not. Loki's purring actually traveled through the wall and sounded more like a deep growl, keeping Tony wide awake as he gripped his pillow and stared at the growling wall.

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**Heh, Tony's not much of a horror fan it seems. Loki doesn't seemed all that fazed by it so far. Let's see what he thinks AFTER his first encounter with Mr. face!**

**As always, do your stuff and I'll see you next time! ;P**


	10. Rude Awakening

**Hey guys, I am SO sorry for how late this is...I blame RedLink101 for jinxing me. (I kid, I kid.) I've just been kinda depressed lately...I promise I'm still working on chapters though, the next two chapters are almost done and the next one should be up before Wednesday.  
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**Thank you guys for all the reviews, I'd reply but I'm kinda dead right now. -_- Sorry guys.  
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**Anyway, this is a short, basic little chapter, it's all just set-up for the next two. It gets better, you just gotta hold on.  
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**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy.  
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Tony, once again, woke up to shouting coming from the main room. He sighed and listened, hearing Loki's voice, accompanied by Thor's. Both were rising to dangerous levels. Tony muttered a 'damn it' and jump out of bed. He hurried out the door to find Loki and Thor standing off in-between the training and rec. areas. Both of them were growling at each other in a language that Stark had never heard. The only thing he recognized was a few instances of his own last name.

Obviously Loki shouted something extremely offensive, because Thor roared and dove forward to grab Loki. Loki dodged to the side and danced backwards, spitting foreign insults all the way. Thor stumbled and spun around, trying to snag Loki in his grasp. Loki snarled something and Thor seemed to become even more irritable, actually hefting his hammer like he was on the attack. Tony yelled at them and ran forward, putting himself between them and yelling at Thor to calm down.

"That's enough! What the hell is going on?!" Tony yelled, earning only a low growl from Thor as the thunderer slowly forced himself to calm down. Thor took a step back and lowered his hammer, refusing to talk. Loki too was quiet, still glaring up at his brother with an intense, green fire in his eyes.

"Hello?" Tony said, sounding exasperated. "Is one of you going to explain what the hell that was all about or do I need to get Nat in here to interrogate?"

"It is nothing, Stark." Thor growled, spinning around to storm off towards the kitchen. Loki muttered something inaudible and turned away as well. Tony reached out and grabbed Loki's shoulder.

"Whoa there Riddles, care to explain what just happened?"

"No." Loki spat, yanking himself from Tony's grasp and storming over to sit on the couch. Tony couldn't help but feel like he had missed something important.

"Are they done screaming?"

Tony turned to see Banner poking his head out of his door, looking drained.

"As far as I can tell," Tony replied, crossing his arms irritably as Banner walked out to join him. "any idea what that was all about?"

"Not really, they were quiet for most of the morning, but Thor started yelling in that strange language and that sparked Loki yelling as well."

Tony 'humph'ed and walked over to where Thor was raiding the fridge.

"Okay Lightning Rod, spill."

"Spill what?" Thor asked, turning to face Stark with a mound of food in his arms.

"I mean, tell me what the yelling was about." Tony growled, placing his hands on the edge of the counter. The thunderer frowned and looked away.

"It was nothing, just a...small disagreement."

"Small? You looked like you were about ready to beat his head in." Tony growled angrily. Thor actually looked rather regretful.

"I...I did not mean to. Loki has a way of fraying my nerves."

"No kidding."

"...Please, just forget this happened. I do not wish to make Loki any angrier at me than he already is." Thor mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Tony sighed and walked away, this time towards Loki, who was sitting on the couch with his knees to his chest and his arms crossed, glaring at the lifeless TV. It was like approaching the food bowl of a territorial dog, the closer he got the more Loki growled and tensed up. Stark took the chance and moved over and sat on the arm on the opposing side of the couch.

"You okay small fry?"

"No, I am not." Loki said, his voice strangely devoid of any emotion, even the anger that was plastered to his face. Tony tried not to actually look at Loki, keeping his eyes on the black TV screen instead.

"Why not?" Tony asked, trying to coerce Loki into telling him what had happened.

"Because, Anthony, I am stuck in a very small area with my loud, arrogant, idiot of a brother."

"...Brother eh?" Tony hummed, glancing sideways at Loki. The flinch Loki gave when he realized he had referred to Thor as his brother shook the entire couch. Loki's eyes traveled his way, glaring at him with that same green rage in his eyes as before.

"Anthony, I suggest you refrain from pissing me off today." The beyond venomous tone to Loki's voice promised a fate worse than death if Stark continued. Tony put up his hands in surrender and sat back. They sat there quietly for a minute before Tony couldn't take it anymore and got up, walking away to his room to get a change of clothing. He took a brief shower before he headed for the lab.

It was a few hours before Tony poked his head back out to check on Loki, seeing as he had been quiet the entire time. Stark quickly spotted Thor punching a sandbag in the training area, the bag looked like it had been taking the beating for the last hour or two. Loki however was still in his same spot on the couch, his posture, however, was much different.

He sat in a ball, his knees pulled up tightly against his chest with his arms wrapped around his stomach. His thin fingers were twisted into his sleeves as his shoulders shook. His forehead rested on top of his knees as he panted and twitched. Tony stepped lightly to his room and disappeared inside, digging through his dresser for the pill bottle he was sure would be there.

Just as he suspected, the bottle was resting under an identical pair of socks that it had been under at his house. Stark walked quickly back out and over to Loki, holding the bottle down next to Loki's face so he could see it.

"I don't want it..." Loki said, not moving anything other than his mouth. Stark frowned and moved around the couch so he was in front of the tiny god, kneeling down to try and see his face.

"Why not? You're in pain right?"

"...Yes, but...I don't want to pass out again...I always pass out when I take those."

"Then only take one," Tony said, already opening the bottle. "it'll dull the pain, but you should be able to stay awake just fine."

Loki sat still for a moment before lifting his head, finding Tony with a single blue pill set between his thumb and forefinger. A slow, quiet sigh escaped Loki before he put out his hand, popping the pill into his mouth when Tony set it in his palm. Tony flashed a quick smile before standing back up and moving onto the couch next to the boy.

Stark flicked the TV on and flipped through the channels, stopping when he came across an episode of Family Guy that was just starting. It took less then an episode for Loki to scoot over and lay his head against Tony's shoulder, remaining awake, but looking rather out of it. They watched a few episodes of Family Guy before the door to the hallway opened, Fury stepping inside.

"Stark," He called, startling Loki out of his trance-like state. "get up, we need your opinion on something."

Tony frowned for only a second before easing up off the couch, straightening his shirt before walking over to join Fury. Fury didn't wait for a witty comment before turning around and walking out, Tony followed, but not before glancing back at Loki, who was watching him with puppy-dog eyes.

When the door was shut, Tony followed the Director down the hall, unable to think of anything sarcastic or snarky to say, his mind was still stuck on Loki. Said godling was now heading for the bathroom, intent on another icy-hot shower. Thor paused in his rhythmic punching for the first time in hours to watch his little brother go. Thor still felt bad about their earlier argument, but it had to have happened sooner or later.

Loki turned the water to cold instantly this time, waiting for his skin to turn before he inspected his features. His fingers traced the lines and ridges of his body, the rough, stony texture of his skin was somewhat lost against his clawed fingers. His wounds even changed, the raw skin turning an almost black-blue against his sapphire skin. Once again the water started to freeze against his flesh, the tiles beneath his feet started to cloud over with ice as well.

This form actually felt incredibly natural, it gave Loki a form of comfort he was not use to. It broke his heart. To know that he was a monster, hated by everyone he knew in Asgard. Everyone but his stupid brother and his bastard father. This pissed Loki off to no end, if he was a monster then they could at least have the decency to treat him as such, not coddle him like some defenseless babe.

Loki snarled and yanked the water back to the hot side, internally cursing everyone he knew one by one. His mind stopped however when it came to Stark, refusing to even think a single rotten thought about the mortal genius. Loki let out a heated sigh and closed his eyes, letting the warmth wash back over him, a small, quiet sniffle escaping him.

The rest of the day went by painfully slow. When Loki had finished his shower he disappeared to his room and stayed there until Stark returned. Banner finally left the lab and they all ate a quick dinner together, an uneasy silence settling over the room. Thor retired to his room while Bruce and Tony went back to the lab to continue their work. This left Loki to sit on the couch for a little while.

When Tony finally came out, looking exhausted but please, he called out to Loki and asked him if he wanted to play Amnesia again. He barely had to wait before Loki leapt over the back of the couch and bolted for Stark's room, a smile plastered to his face. Tony followed after, but not before double over with laughter at the glee on Loki's face. Loki hopped into his seat and started up the game, bouncing slightly in his seat and urging Tony to hurry up.

Loki settled back into the game with ease, he actually seemed happy to be playing instead of having to hang around his brother or sit by himself. Loki ran around the Back Hall for a moment before heading up the stairs to the Study. As he walked about, the sounds of screaming hounds filled the air and Tony noticed Loki actually frown and hurry about. Loki rushed through the area, reading all the notes and listening to the disturbing flashback before rushing from the area.

Once back in the Back Hall Loki moved to the next door and entered the Guest Bedroom. After a short flashback and picking up the crowbar and two notes Loki moved to the other door. Finding it closed, the lock broken, Loki used the crowbar and busted the door open. He stepped inside the small room and, after another flashback, read the note, the moment it was done he stepped towards the open cabinet.

Both Tony and Loki jumped when a growl sounded from the other room, Loki moved his character to the door and spotted the hideous creature. With a loud noise of fear Loki scrambled to shut the door in its face and ran back to the cabinet, even as the creature started to smash in the door. Loki quickly shut the cabinet doors and crouched, listening to it smash into the room and lumber around for a few moments. When it had wandered away and they heard the creature leave Loki slowly crept out and looked around, making sure it was gone.

"What the hell was that?!" Loki whispered harshly, pausing and looking over at Stark who looked equally jumpy.

"That, my little friend, was Mr. Face. He's actually called a Gatherer Grunt, but Mr. Face is what most of the internet calls him. He's the main enemy you face during the game."

"Main!? There's more!?"

"Yep, you've already met the Kaernk, the invisible water monster, just wait until you meet the Suitors."

Loki made a noise and sat back in his chair, seeming slightly disturbed.

"You wanna qu-"

"No," Loki said, sighing. "just...give me a moment...I was not expecting...'that'."

After Loki had calmed down he continued his game, finding the key behind the painting and leaving the Guest Room. He moved around much more cautiously now, looking behind him and peeking around corners more often. Eventually Tony had to help him when he got stuck, telling him to throw a chair through the study window. After that Loki was almost pro at finding his way around, only needing Tony's help on a rare occasion.

When he reached the storage area was when Loki actually started to use his lantern in the deeper areas, instantly regretting it the moment Mr. Face popped up again. Loki seemed to have no problem with the horror elements of the game. The jump-scares, flashbacks, disembodied voices, and ambiance didn't seem to affect him at all. Mr. Face, however, made Loki hide in the darkness and curse and mutter about how much he hated the abomination.

While Tony would jump or laugh at certain points during the game, and everything seemed to make Tony jump, even the slightest creak to the quietest rush of wind, his mind was elsewhere. Particularly back in the meeting room with Fury, Nat, Steve, and Clint. Apparently Shrike and Unicorn had been spotted lurking around Stark Tower and all of their personal homes. Clint and Nat had tried to follow them at one point and ended up losing them when they went through a portal.

Clint claimed that he had placed a tracked on Shrike, but it had died the moment they stepped through the portal. Fury went through a few ideas with them, all of which none of them agreed on. Tony had tossed in a few ideas of his own, but those too were rejected. Finally Fury decided to call it quits and sent Nat to escort Stark back to the rooms.

Tony sighed and was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by a loud thunk from the game, caused by Loki tossing a chair around. Tony hated everything about the game, he actually spoke rather frequently, trying to disperse the nervous energy the game's dark setting created. When Loki would get tired of Tony's constant speaking he would spin to face him and yell. The first time he did this Tony yelped and fell backwards in his chair, cursing and flailing as he jumped back to his feet.

Loki fell unusually quiet whenever he was being actively chased, he would shrink down in his chair and jump and dodge around everything he could to put space between him and the monster. After an hour or two they finally got the elevator working and took it down, deciding that that was a good enough place as any to stop for the night. Once again they both split and went to bed, only this time both were unable to sleep for several hours before exhaustion dragged them under.

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**Wee~ More Amnesia for the boys, hope you enjoyed this little chapter.**

**And remember kiddos, reviews, favs, and follows are what motivate me to work on this faster. XP**


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